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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


From  the  Library  of 
GERTRUDE  WEIL 

1879-1971 


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THREE  GIRLS  IN  A 
FLAT 


**~<£ii&s 


311ustratcb  by... 


HELEN  M.  ARMSTRONG 
A.  B.  WENZELL 
C.  GRAHAM 
TRUE  WILLIAMS 
J.   H.  VANDERPOEL 
A.  F.  BROOKS 
HUGH  TALL ANT 
WALTER  TALLANT  OWEN 


ENID  YANDELL,  of  Kentucky 

JEAN  LOUGHBOROUGH,  of  Arkansas 

LAURA  HAYES,  of  Illinois 


Copyright,  1892,  by 
Laura  Hayes. 


PRESS  OF 

KNIGHT,   LEONARD  &  CO 

CHICAGO. 


r>@ TO 

That  noble  body  of  women  which  is  acting  as  advance- 
guard  to  the  great  army  of  the  unrecognised 
in  its  onward  march  toward  liberty 
and  equality  — 

THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS 

of  the 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 


PREFACE 

We  beg  to  assure  our  readers  that  we  do  not  consider 
this  little  book  in  any  way  a  literary  effort. 

It  is  a  simple  story  which  really  wrote  itself,  and  it  is 
with  great  modesty  and  hesitation  that  we  cast  it  upon 
the  sea  of  public  opinion. 


THREE  GIRLS  IN  A  FLAT 


FLAT 


CHAPTER    I. 

T  was  growing  late  and  Gene  and  the  Duke  were 
dressing  for  dinner  in  the  great  dreary  room  in 
the  boarding-house  owned  in  partnership  by  the 
girls.  The  Duke  had  let  down  the  masses  of  her 
blue-black  hair,  while  Gene  was  engaged  in  un- 
tangling a  refractory  shoe-lace,  when  a  little  knock  came  at 
the  door,  and  a  moment  after  Marjorie  entered.  She  looked 
pale  and  worn,  and  as  the  girls  looked  up  with  a  welcoming 
smile,  Gene  said,  "  What's  the  matter,  dear,  you  look  so 
tired  to-night."  Marjorie  threw  herself  into  a  chair,  and 
said,  "It's  the  flat  again.  I  have  just  had  a  note  from 
Mrs.  Black,  saying  that  owing  to  a  sudden  change  in  her 
husband's  business  they  have  been  called  to  New  York, 
and  now  that  white  elephant  is  on  my  hands  once  more." 
"What  is  the  flat?  "  asked  the  Duke,  with  interest.  "  Why, 
don't  you  know?"  said  Gene;  "it  has  been  the  bane  of 
Marjorie's  existence  for  the  last  two  years,  for  it  contains 
all  of  her  mother's  furniture  which  she  does  not  want  to 
store,  and  the  people  to  whom  she  rents  it  are  always  get- 
ting sick  or  leaving  town,  or  for  some  reason  or  other 
giving  it  up,  so  it  is  on  her  hands  again."  "Where  is  it?" 
demanded  the  Duke.  "Why,  it  is  only  two  blocks  down 
the  street  and  in  a  very  pleasant  neighborhood,  and  for  my 

9 


TJu-ee  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


part  I  wish  we  lived  in  it  instead  of  in  this  dreary  old  board- 
ing-house, where  we  can't  get  a  thing  to  eat  if  we  are  not  on 
time  for  meals."  "Why  not  go  to  housekeeping?"  cried 
the  Duke,  and  the  same  thought  came  like  a  flash  to  all 
three,  and  then  and  there,  regardless  of  the  approaching 
dinner,  they  sat  down  to  discuss  eagerly  the  ways  and 
means  of  accomplishing  their  object. 

Two  weeks    later   the   girls    came   home    to    their  own 
hearth  and  fireside.     They  had  brought  two  friends  with 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


them  to  spend  the  night,  and  when  the  five  girls  gathered 
around  the  snowy  table,  with  its  bunch  of  flowers,  in  the 
pretty  dining-room,  with  its  sideboard  full  of  the  beautiful 
old-fashioned  silver  that  had  belonged  to  Marjorie's 
mother,  it  was  with  the  happiest  feeling  they  had  all  known 
for  many  a  day.     The  neat  little  maid  who  had  worked  in 


"WHAT'S  THt  MATTER,  DEAR?    YOU  LOOK  SO  TIRED. " 

the  flat  for  the  preceding  occupants  had  stayed  with  them, 
and  no  one  would  ever  have  guessed  from  the  way  in 
which  she  served  the  dinner  that  it  had  all  been  cooked  by 
herself  in  the  little  kitchen  beyond. 

It  was  not  a  very  large  suite  of  rooms — just  seven,  but 
they  were  comfortable  and  very  light,  having  side  windows 
that  overlooked  a  field  of  waving  grass,  an  unusual  thing 
in  the  city. 

(The  Duke,  who  was  standing  at  the  dining-room  win- 
dow when  I  first  read  this  chapter  aloud,  interrupted  to  say 
that  I  had  forgotten  to  mention  the  adornments  of  the 
field,  which  consisted  of  a  rusty  stove,  two  battered  silk 


Three   Girls  in  a  Flat. 


hats,  an  old  tin  bath-tub  with  a  hole  in  it,  ten  tomato  cans 
and  the  janitor's  six  children.) 

There  was  the  parlor  with  its  cheerful  fire-light,  the 
little  library  with  its  pictures,  copies,  for  the  most  part,  of 
famous  paintings,  and  its  rows  of  books  in  their  leather- 


trimmed  cases,  and  the  dining-room  and  kitchen;  then  there 
was  a  room  apiece  for  the  girls;  but  I  must  not  forget  to 
mention  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  all — the 
hammock  in  the  library.  This  great  soft  web  of  blue  and 
white  which  swung  in  the  half-darkness  and  yet  gave  a 
glimpse  of  the  ruddy  hearth  in  the  parlor  beyond,  was  a 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


13 


favorite  resort  of  one,  two  and  sometimes  three  tired  girls, 
who  could  escape  through  the  library  door  to  their  own 
rooms  at  the  importunate  ring  of  the  door-bell. 


THE  JANITOR'S  CHILDREN. 

There  had  been  one  subject  that  had  nearly  wrecked 
their  plans  of  housekeeping,  and  this  had  been  the  ques- 
tion of  a  chaperone,  which  they  had  discussed  from  every 
standpoint  and  with  much  feeling,  for  Gene  had  insisted 
upon  having  one,  although,  as  she  admitted,  it  would  spoil 
much  of  their  comfort,  as  there  was  no  room  for  her  in  the 
flat.  But  even  Gene's  conservative  ideas  were  finally 
changed  by  the  two  obstacles  which  presented  themselves. 
The  first  was  the  impossibility  of  finding  a  chaperone  that 
they  liked  (as  they  were  strangers  in  the  city  and  did  not 
know  who  to  call  upon),  and  the  second  was  the  necessity  of 
supporting  her  should  they  be  able  to  find  one.  It  was  the 
latter  point  that  settled  the  question  finally,  as  the  girls  felt 


14 


Three   Girls  in  a  Flat. 


that  they  could  not  add  to  their  expenses  so  materially,  and 

they  could  hardly  ask  their  chaperone  to  board  with  them. 

There  had  been  no  changes  to  make,  except  the  purchase 

of  two  new  rugs, 
which  the  girls 
had  taken  as  much 
pleasure  in  select- 
ing as  if  they  had 
been  buying  the 
outfit  for  a  stately 
mansion.  The 
week  before  mov- 
ing in,  Virginia 
had  run  over  to 
the  fiat  one  morn- 
ing to  look  about 
and  see  what  there 
was  to  be  done 
and  to  measure 
the  parlor  floor 
for  the  first  new 
rug.  She  had  left 
the  door  accident- 
ally open,  and  was 
on  her  knees  with 
tape  measure  i  n 
hand  when  she 
was  startled  by  a 
voice  behind  her  saying  inquiringly,  "  Miss  Fairfax  ?  "  She 
turned  in  some  surprise  at  hearing  her  name,  for  the  girls 
had  only  been  to  their  new  home  once,  and  that  after  dark, 
and  no  one  could  possibly  have  known  of  their  coming. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


]5 


Before  her  stood  a  stout  woman  with  rather  an  elegant 
figure  and  a  tired  and  careworn  look.  She  was  dressed 
in  a  plain  skirt  covered  by  a  large  apron,  and  what  Gene 
afterward  described  as  a  "grey  and  melancholy  waist"  and 


her  appearance  betokened  respectable  shabbiness.  Her 
eyes,  which  must  have  been  beautiful  before  sorrow  had 
dimmed  their  lustre,  rolled  curiously  about  the  room,  as 
she  stood  watching  Gene.  Her  soft,  gray  hair  was  banded 
away  from  a  low  brow,  her  hands  were  aristocratic  and  well 
kept,  and  her  voice  was  soft  and  cultured  as  she  spoke. 
Gene  was  beginning  to  wonder  if  she  had  dropped  out  of 
the  sky,  as  she  had  not  heard  her  enter,  when  she  ex- 
plained her  appearance  by  saying  "I  am  your  neighbor, 


i6 


Three  Girls  i?i  a  Flat. 


Mrs.  Brown.  I  saw  you  come  in  and  thought  I  would  run 
down  and  have  a  chat  with  you  this  morning."  Then  in- 
terrupting herself,  as  she  saw  Gene's  occupation,  "  What, 
are  you  going  to  get  new  rugs  ?  Now  I  call  that  very 
shabby  of  you,  when  we  live  just  overhead  and  our  carpets 
are  so  old  and  worn."    Gene  tried  to  murmur  some  apology 


COPIES  OF  FAMOUS  PAINTINGS. 


for  having  even  thought  of  buyii.g  anything  new  without 
consulting  our  neighbors,  when  Mrs.  Brown  rambled  on  : 
"Are  you  any  relation  to  old  Governor  Fairfax  of  Vir- 
ginia? What,  not  his  granddaughter?  I  am  delighted  to 
hear  it,  and  I  might  have  known  it  from  that  straight  nose 
of  yours.  Blood  will  tell  every  time,  I  say.  Now  you 
must  meet  my  husband's  sister,  Mrs.  Jackson,  who  lives 
with  me.  She  belongs  to  the  old  Jackson  family  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  they  lived  right  in  the  next  county  to  the  Fair- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


17 


faxes  in  the  old  Dominion  State,"  and  Mrs.  Brown  chattered 
on  in  the  most  interesting  but  interminable  manner,  until 
Gene,  who  was  half  vexed  with  the  delay,  could  not  help 
being  amused  at  the  perfect  friendliness  and  freedom  with 
which  her  new  acquaintance  regaled 
her  with  family  history.  As  soon  as 
she  discovered  that  Gene  was  one  of 
the  Fairfax  family,  she  took  her  into 
her  confidence,  and  before  she  left,  Vir- 
ginia was  in  possession  of  the  facts  that 
Mrs.  Brown  had  been  a  reigning  belle 
at  Baltimore  in  her  youth,  and  had  wed- 
ded at  an  early  age  a  brilliant  young 
physician  who  had  once  figured  promi- 
nently before  the  people  of  the  United 
States  through  an  Arctic  expedition, 
though  this  marriage,  as  she  candidly 
admitted,  had  been  but  an  incident  in 
her  career.  By  it,  however,  she  had 
reached  a  most  enviable  position,  and 
had  been  for  several  years  petted  and 
idolized  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  admirers.  After 
Dr.  Jackson's  death,  which  left  her  nearly  penniless,  she 
had  returned  to  Baltimore,  where  she  lived  in  great  re- 
tirement, until  one  day,  having  been  persuaded  to  go  to  a 
dinner,  (where,  as  we  subsequently  learned  from  Mrs. 
Jackson,  she  was  charming  in  a  simple  toilet  of  white  mus- 
lin and  blue  ribbons)  she  met  her  fate  in  handsome  Andrew 
Brown,  who  in  return,  fell  instantly  in  love  with  her  and 
they  were  married  soon  after. 

Many  happy  years  of  wedded  life  followed,  when  Mr. 
Brown,  who  was  one  of  the  finest  men  in  the  world,  died  of 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


JEAN  PAUL. 


a  fever,  leaving  her  with  a  large  family  of  children  to  edu- 
cate. She  had  preferred  to  leave  Baltimore  when  she  was 
obliged  to  sell  her  home,  and  after  trying  several  cities 
had  finally  settled  in  Chicago.  All  this  she  told  Virginia, 
and  with  perfect  candor  stated  the  exact  amount  of  her 
present  income,  which  was  not  large,  the  num- 
ber of  frocks  Ariadne  wore  out  each  year,  and 
the  size  of  their  last  month's  butcher  bill  (which 
they  had  forgotten  to  pay). 

When  Gene  came  home  and  told  us  about 
her  interview  with  our  neighbor  and  mentioned 
the  number  in  the  family,  we  felt  our  first  mis- 
giving as  to  our  new  home. 

There  was  Mrs.  Brown,  her  sister  Mrs.  Jack- 
son; Ariadne,  aged  twenty  ;  Jean  Paul,  fourteen; 
Lycurgus,  twelve  ;  Thomas  Jefferson,  ten  ;  and 
little  Philander,  popularly  known  as  Phil.,  aged 
two  ;  and  all  of  these  in  a  seven-room  flat  which 
just  furnished  us  three  girls  with  a  bedroom  each  and  left 
none  to  spare. 

We  had  interviewed  the  landlord  and  succeeded  in  get- 
ting his  promise  to  put  new  papering  in  the  dining-room, 
we  had  ordered  the  rugs,  and  were  getting  the  ruffled 
muslin  curtains  made,  expecting  to  move  on  the  following 
Tuesday,  when  one  morning  brought  a  note  from  Mrs. 
Brown. 

"Dear  Miss  Fairfax,"  it  ran,  "I  write  to  tell  you  of  my 
terrible  dilemma,  and  to  beg  that  if  possible  you  will  aid 
me  to  escape.  Ariadne  was  invited  so  many  places  last 
winter,  that  she  must  give  a  little  party  in  return,  and 
Lycurgus  wants  to  entertain  his  classmates  for  an  evening, 
and  would  you  oblige  us  by  letting  us  have  the  use  of  your 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  19 

flat  next  Thursday  and  Friday?  Our  piano  is  in  your  din- 
ing-room, and  it  would  be  so  nice  for  the  children  to  dance 
in  there.  I  ask  you  to  do  us  this  kindness,  knowing  that 
you  cannot  be  cruel  enough  to  refuse,  when  I  tell  you  that 
the  invitations  are  already  out."  And  the  note  concluded 
by  begging  the  pleasure  of  our  company  for  Thursday 
evening  following. 

We  had  a  long  and  earnest  debate  over  this  remarkable 
communication,  and  the  Duke  vowed  with  a  strange  and 
terrible  vow  that  we  should  not  allow  ourselves 
to  be  thus  imposed  upon  ;  and  that  we  could 
not  postpone  our  moving  for  three  days  at  the 
request  of  a  mere  stranger  ;  but  the  upshot  of  it 
all  was  that  Virginia  wrote  a  courteous  note,  giv- 
ing Mrs.  Brown  the  necessary  permission,  and 
promising  to  attend  if  possible. 

I  will  not  go  into  details  and  explain  how 
Gene  did  go  to  the  party,  nor  will  I  tell  of  the 
anguish  of  mind  with  which  she  joined  the 
crowd  in  our  dear  little  flat,  who  were  dancing 
the  wax  off  the  newly  polished  floors,  and  elbowing  the  art 
paper  that  had  just  been  placed  upon  the  dining-room  wall. 
But  this  was  not  the  worst ;  for  many  weeks  afterwards  we 
kept  meeting  friends  on  the  street  who  regretted  so  much 
that  they  could  not  come  to  "our  party"  that  Thursday 
night,  and  we  learned  to  our  dismay  that  the  invitations 
had  been  given  out  in  our  joint  names. 

We  had  not  been  settled  long  before  we  had  become 
acquainted  with  the'entire  family,  and  a  more  happy,  enter 
taining,  shiftless,  pleasant  set  of  people  it  was  never  our 
good  fortune  to  meet.     There  was  only  one  drawback,  and 
that  was  that  there  were  so  many  of  them.     It  was  all  very 


Three  Girls  in  a  Fiat. 


well  to  have  Ariadne  with  her  quiet  manners  and  her  pale 
face  come  in  and  spend  the  evening,  or  to  hear  a  knock  at 
the  door  and  opening  it  find 


three  little  kittens  that  mis- 
chievous Tom  had  deserted 
on  our  threshold;  and  it  was 
pleasant,  too,  to  have  Mrs. 
Jackson  come  in 
with  her  reddish  wig 
and  Spanish  lace 
mantilla  to  tell  us 
the  tales  of  bygone 
days — but  it  was  al- 
ways someone.    Ly- 


curgus  would  surprise  us  by  dangling  strange  and  unex- 
pected things  down  the  shaft  into  our  bath-room,  or  little 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


Philander  would  come  in  with  his  toys  to  stay  as  long  as 
he  was  allowed;  but  the  one  who  came  most  frequently  was 
Mrs.  Brown  herself,  who  never  could  stay  very  long,  but 
who  always  appeared  at  a  most  unexpected  moment.  We 
all  took  it  good-naturedly  enough  except  the  Duke  who 
rather  rebelled,  though  she  did  not  say  much. 

One  evening,  however,  she  had  a  caller,  and  had  been 
interrupted  two  or  three  times  by  Mrs.  Brown's  knocking 
at  the  front  door.  She  had  opened  it  each  time  very  polite- 
ly and  asked  her  to  come  in,  but  at  last  her  patience  was 
exhausted,  and  when  the  fourth  knock  came  she  did  not 
move.  Mrs.  Brown  knocked  and  called  once  or  twice,  for 
she  knew  that  the  Duke  was  inside;  but  that  stubborn 
young  woman  refused  to  answer,  though  Cousin  John  could 
hardly  restrain  his  laughter.  Mrs.  Brown,  however,  was 
not  to  be  outdone  in  that  way.  It  was  but  the  work  of  a 
moment  to  go  to  her  kitchen,  down  the  back  stairs,  in  our 
back  door,  and  back  into  the  parlor,  which  she  entered  ex- 
claiming triumphantly:  "You  see  you  can't  keep  me  out, 
Miss  Wendell,"  and  the  poor  Duke  was  overcome  with 
shame  and  confusion,  especially  as  Mrs.  Brown  carried 
with  her  a  plate  of  delicious  home-made  candy  that  Ari- 
adne had  made  that  afternoon. 

They  borrowed  everything  we  had,  from  hats  through 
to  shoe-blacking,  but  the  climax  was  reached  one  Sunday 
morning  when  Mrs.  Brown  came  to  the  front  door  and 
asked  if  she  might  take  our  frying  pan.  Virginia,  who  had 
answered  the  knock,  said  "  Why  of  course  Mrs.  Brown,  if 
we  have  one,  and  I  suppose  that  we  have;  I'll  ring  and  tell 
Katie  to  bring  it  to  you."  "Oh,  no,"  said  Mrs.  Brown, 
"  I'll  just  run  back  into  the  kitchen  and  get  it  myself  ";  but 
Virginia  planted  herself  in  the  way,  for  she  knew  that  the 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


girls  were  still  at  breakfast,  and  that  Mr.  Middleton  had 
just  come  with  his  Sunday  morning  flowers,  and  she  did 
not  care  to  have  our  neighbors  prying  into  our  affairs. 
Now  Gene  has  a  great  deal  of  dignity,  and  it  would  take 
some  courage  to  pass  her  with  that  determined  look  in  her 


2..**, 


eyes,  but  Mrs.  Brown  neither  looked  nor  stopped  until  she 
reached  the  kitchen.  Marjorie  had  gone  to  her  room  for 
something,  so  as  Mrs.  Brown  passed  through  the  dining- 
room  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  Duke  and  Mr.- Middle- 
ton,  who  were  talking  together.  As  she  came  back  she 
held  the  frying-pan  up  beside  her  face  like  a  huge  lorg- 
nette, saying:  "  Never  mind,  young  people  I  won't  look  at 
you,"  which  made  the  Duke  perfectly  furious,  although  she 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  23 

did  not  in  the  least  consider  Mr.  Middleton  her  particular 
prey. 

But  if  they  borrowed  of  us  they  were  equally  willing  to 
lend,  as  was  proven  the  night  that  Marjorie  was  going 
to  the  Charity  Ball.  Mrs.  Brown  had  heard  her  say  that 
she  did  not  have  anything  to  wear,  so  at  eight  o'clock  that 
evening  her  customary  knock  was  heard  and  she  entered 
with  a  great  armful  of  old-fashioned  flounces  of  black  lace 
and  with  a  most  exquisite  point  lace  shawl,  which  she 
insisted  upon  draping  about  Marjorie  until  she  saw  on  the 
bed  the  pretty  tulle  gown  of  pale  blue,  with  its  wreaths 
of  rosebuds,  which  the  girls  had  made  that  day,  when  she 
desisted. 

All  the  Brown  family  were  exceedingly  strict  about 
chaperones.  They  frankly  confessed  that  they  were 
shocked  when  the  girls  went  to  the  opera  or  to  the  theatre 
with  young  men,  even  though  the  cavaliers  in  question 
were  cousins  or  old,  old  friends.  Poor  Ariadne  in  con- 
sequence was  deprived  of  many  an  innocent  pleasure,  for 
it  was  quite  impossible  to  chat  with  callers  at  home  when 
she  knew  that  all  the  family  were  playing  whist  in  the  next 
room  within  hearing  and  would  comment  on  the  conversa- 
tion at  breakfast  the  next  day,  or  when  wicked  Tom  would 
come  dancing  by  the  hall  door  in  his  night  dress,  making 
faces  of  fiendish  delight  as  he  saw  her  torment. 

But  it  was  too  much  for  our  gravity  when  Mrs.  Brown 
told  us  of  an  incident  that  happened  one  day  when  Mrs. 
Jackson  wanted  Dr.  Gordon  to  look  at  her  throat  which 
had  been  troubling  her.  Now  Dr.  Gordon  is  an  extremely 
pleasant  young  fellow,  good  looking  as  Apollo  and  yet 
entirely  wanting  in  the  conceit  that  makes  handsome  men 
usually  odious.     He  has  the  highest  professional  and  social 


24 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


standing,  and  moreover,  he  was  a  warm  friend  of  the 
Brown  family.  The  two  ladies  went  over  to  the  drug- 
store on  the  corner,  where  they  sat  in  state  while  they  sent 
the  clerk  up  stairs  to  call  the  young  doctor  down,  for  as 


WfAI-tAW 


THE    BRIDE. 


Mrs.  Brown  afterwards  confessed,  "  it  would  have  been  so 
improper  for  dear  Mrs.  Jackson  to  have  gone  to  his  office." 
Mrs.  Jackson's  conscious  look  when  Mrs.  Brown  made  this 
remark  showed  that  despite  her  eighty-nine  years,  she  con- 
curred in  this  opinion. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  25 

But  despite  their  little  peculiarities,  we  enjoyed  the 
Browns.  Their  comings  and  goings  were  a  source  of  in- 
finite distraction,  and  we  should  have  missed  them  sorely 
had  they  moved  away. 

Below  us  lived  a  young  married  couple  who  were 
evidently  from  the  country.  The  bride  was  both  young 
and  pretty,  though  as  Mrs.  Brown  said,  she  had  "no  style;" 
but  it  was  the  occupation  of  her  life  to  prevent  the  neigh- 
bors from  making  the  discovery  that  she  kept  no  servant. 
Instead  of  emptying  her  ashes  in  the  chute  which  would 
have  necessitated  her  appearance  in  the  back  hall,  she 
saved  them  up  for  several  days,  and  then  after  dark  carried 
them  cautiously  down  her  stairs  into  the  cellar,  and  taking 
off  the  lids  filled  all  the  laundry  stoves.  She  had  another 
little  peculiarity — so  Katie  told  us — of  throwing  her  dish- 
water out  of  the  window  into  the  clean,  stone-paved  court 
where  the  handmaids  of  the  flats  usually  congregated  in 
the  evening  with  their  beaux.  One  of  the  excitements  of 
the  back  hall  was  the  warfare  waged  against  the  lower  flat 
by  all  the  servants,  who  were  assisted  in  the  crusade  by 
their  firm  friends,  the  butchers  and  milkmen. 

Just  across  the  hall  on  the  same  floor,  dwelt  some 
neighbors  of  a  very  different  stamp.  Here,  in  great  retire- 
ment, lived  a  well-known  general  and  his  charming  family. 
His  wife  had  been  the  widow  of  a  prominent  politician  who 
had  figured  as  candidate  in  a  notable  presidential  campaign, 
and  her  grace  and  beauty  had  given  her  an  almost  national 
reputation.  As  her  husband's  health  was  delicate,  she  went 
but  little  into  society,  but  busied  herself  with  her  duties  to 
her  children  and  her  church,  to  which  she  was  devoted. 
Her  daughters  had  inherited  her  beauty,  and  no  amount 
of  seclusion   could   keep   the  glances  of  admiration  from 


26 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


noting  the  great  black  eyes  of  the  elder,  or  the  heavy- 
chestnut  braids  and  glowing  cheeks  of  the  younger.  Edith 
was  our  especial  friend,  and  it  was  Gene's  delight  to  coax 
her  into  a  literary  or  scientific  dicussion  and  see  her  cheeks 
kindle  and  her  eyes  flash  with  the  inherited  power  of 
oratory  when  she  became  interested  in  her  subject. 

Taking  it  altogether,  we  felt  that  we  were  particularly 
happy  in  our  neighbors. 


CHAPTER    II. 

PARIS. 


l£[-A/^w\\}  ^^N   dinner  was  over   the   girls  usually  gath- 

.0  Jm.W  ered  round  the  cannel  fire  in  the  parlor  for 

f^Jf^fe3  a  chat,  and  so  it  happened  on  a  certain  stormy 

evening    in    October.      Outside    the    wind 


howled  up  and  down  the  deserted  street, 
but  within  it  was  the  picture  of  comfort  and 
good  cheer.  It  was  too  early  for  callers,  and  the  Duke  had 
thrown  herself  full  length  into  her  favorite  chair,  while  Gene 
sat  in  the  lamplight  trimming  her  hat  for  the  fourth  time 
that  week.  "Won't  you  get  us  your  diary,  Marjorie,  and 
read  us  a  little  about  your  trip  abroad  ?"  asked  the  Duke. 
"You  have  promised  so  many  times  to  do  it."  "Why, 
of  course,"  and  Marjorie  left  the  room  returning  in  a 
few  minutes  with  her  black  leather  book,  while  the  girls 
settled  themselves  to  listen. 

She  opened  at  random  and  commenced  to  read 
"June  29,  1S91.  When  we  first  arrived  in  Paris  Mrs. 
Palmer  received  a  call  from  Mr.  Theodore  Stanton,  who  is 
the  correspondent  for  the  Associated  Press,  and  who  has 
resided  in  Paris  for  over  twelve  years.  He  was  an  ex- 
tremely handsome  and  amiable  man  with  bright  color  in  his 
face  and  in  his  golden  beard,  and  in  the  deep  blue  of  his  eyes. 
Perhaps  to  me  he  seemed  especially  good  to  look  at  be- 
cause he  was  so  American  in  his  speech  and  dress,  and  in 
the    cheerful   enthusiasm   that  pervaded    his   manner.     It 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


was  a  comfort  to  meet  a  real  countryman  after  the  many 
insipid  imitations  we  had  seen  in  the  streets  of  London, 
who  were  ashamed  to  be  American,  and  could  not  be  suc- 
cessfully English,  and  who,  as  a  result,  were  a  type  of 
nothing  under  the  sun. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  Stanton.     He  besran  to  ask  at  once 


about  the  part  women  were  to  take  in  the  World's  Fair, 
and  handled  the  woman  question  with  an  ease  and  fear- 
lessness that  could  only  have  come  from  deep  conviction 
or  early  training.  I  afterwards  discovered  that  it  was  both, 
as  he  was  the  son  of  that  much-loved  and  revered  woman, 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton.  When  he  learned  that  Mrs. 
Palmer  was  to  be  in  the  city  only  a  few  days,  he  seemed 
much  disappointed,  as  he  said  he  wanted  her  to  meet 
some  of  the  leaders  in  women's  work  in  Paris,  especially 
Madame  De  Morsier,  who  had  taken  such  a  prominent  part 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


29 


in  the  Paris  Exposition  of  '89.  Mrs.  Palmer  explained 
that  she  would  return  in  a  few  weeks,  when  she  would  be 
very  happy  to  meet  the  French  ladies,  and  so  it  was 
arranged  that  Mme.  De  Morsier  should  call  before  her  de- 
parture and  make  the  preliminary  arrangements.  She 
came  a  few  days  later,  and  it  was  a  comfort  to  find  that 
she  really  spoke  excellent  English,  though  with  a  quaint 
little  accent.     She  had  a  sweet,  intelligent  face,  a  matronly 


figure  and  a  very  cordial  manner,  and  she  proved  to  be  a 
valuable  acquaintance,  for  she  came  to  see  Mrs.  Palmer 
many  times,  arranged  a  meeting  with  M.  Guyot  and  others, 
and  took  such  a  friendly  interest  from  the  first  in  the 
part  women  were  to  take  in  the  coming  Exposition,  that 
her  example  proved  contagious. 

"Whether  or  not  there  were  other  agencies  at  work  I 
never  fully  understood,  but  as  soon  as  she  returned  from 
her  two-weeks'  trip  to  Vienna,  Mrs.  Palmer  was  asked  in 
the  most  delicate  and  diplomatic  way  if  she  would  consent 


30  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

to  receive  a  few  of  the  French  women  who  were  inter- 
ested in  her  work,  and  if  so  what  place  would  be  conven- 
ient. She  named  the  following  Wednesday,  and  said  she 
would  see  them  in  her  salon  at  the  Grand  Hotel. 

"  We  did  not  know  exactly  who  would  come,  but  Madame 
De  Morsier  thought  there  would  probably  be  about  twelve 
people,  and  she  promised  to  be  on  hand  early  and  intro- 
duce the  first  comers. 

"  Wednesday  proved  a  clear  and  cloudless  day,  one  of  the 
warmest  we  had  encountered  since  leaving  home,  and  after 

looking  over  her  mail,  as 
usual,  and  telling  me  how  to 
dispose  of  it,  Mrs.  Palmer 
began  to  consider  the  after- 
noon. 

"She  had  an  engagement 
for  luncheon,  and  so  the  ar- 
rangements were  left  to  me, 
to  my  great  delight,  for  I  thoroughly  enjoy  anything  that 
savors  of  housekeeping,  for  which,  probably  because  I 
have  never  tried  it,  I  have  always  felt  that  I  had  a  peculiar 
aptitude. 

"First  I  sent  for  the  steward  and  instructed  him  as  to  the 
serving  of  the  coffee,  tea  and  chocolate  ;  then  I  went  to 
Boissiers  myself  and  ordered  the  confections  and  the  de- 
licious little  cakes  for  which  that  establishment  is  so  justly 
famous,  and  finally  to  the  flower  market  on  the  corner  by 
the  Madeleine,  where  I  bought  to  my  heart's  content,  taking 
a  whole  mass  in  my  "voiture,"  while  two  stout  men  ran 
down  the  boulevard  beside  it,  each  with  a  load  on  his 
back.  I  worked  with  a  will  and  I  must  say  the  rooms 
looked  charming,  for  I  had  often  decorated  them  before 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


31 


/ 


'%* 


w. 


:m 


**»*?; 


\ 


"the  gayest  corner  of  the  GAYEST  STREET  IN  PARIS." 


32  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

on  flower-market  day  for  the  mere  pleasure  it  gave  us  all 
to  see  them  looking  so  pretty. 

"  The  salon  proper  was  a  very  large  apartment  on  the 
first  floor  above  the  street,  and  in  the  corner  of  the  Avenue 
de  l'Opera  and  the  Boulevard;  and  there  were  many  lace- 
draped  windows  opening  full  length,  in  the  French  way,  on 
to  a  large  balcony,  so  that  it  was  but  the  work  of  a 
moment  to  step  out  into  the  June  day  and  be  right  over 
the  gayest  corner  of  the  gayest  street  in  Paris,  with  its 
multitudes  of  little  tables,  and  its  beautifully  dressed 
promenaders.  Within  the  room  was  gorgeous.  The  walls 
were  hung  with  red  brocade,  and  the  wood  work  was  of 
white  enamel,  while  from  the  great  candelabra  placed  here 
and  there,  and  hanging  from  the  ceiling,  depended  hun- 
dreds of  oak  leaves  of  shining  crystal. 

"  The  flowers  were  very  simply  arranged,  but  there  was  a 
huge  Japanese  punch-bowl  full  of  what  Min  called  "blue 
carnations  "  on  the  center-table,  while  the  tall  bronze  jars 
on  the  marble  cabinets  between  the  windows  blossomed 
over  into  snowy  lilies,  that  repeated  themselves  in  the 
mirrors  behind  them  in  endless  nodding  reflections. 
Through  the  open  doors  leading  into  the  next  salon  could 
be  seen  the  rose-crowned  table  with  its  dainty  appoint- 
ments. 

"The  first  to  arrive  was  Madame  de  Morsier,  according  to 
her  promise  ;  then  followed  M.  and  Madame  Jules  Siegfried, 
and  more  people  came  singly  and  in  groups  until  every 
chair  in  the  room  was  taken  and  we  were  obliged  to  send 
for  more.  After  all  were  seated  and  chatting  comfortably 
to  their  neighbors  in  the  cheerful  French  fashion,  Madame 
de  Morsier  rose,  and  in  simple  and  dignified  language  ex- 
plained the  part  women  were  to  take  in  the  World's  Co- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


33 


lumbian   Exposition.    She    spoke   in 

French,  and  as  she  talked  I  glanced 

l 

around  at  her  audience. 

"  There  must  have  been 

forty  people  in  the  room, 

some  of  them  gentlemen, 

and   as   we   afterwards 

learned, 

prominent 

members  of 

the    Cham- 


ber of  Deputies,  which  corresponds  to 
our  Congress. 

"Just  behind  her  sat  a  distinguished 
line  of  women.     First,  Madame  Guyot, 


34 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


the  bright  and  progressive  wife  of  M.  Yves  Guyot,  who 
was  at  that  time  minister  of  public  works,  and  a  member 
of  the  Cabinet.  She  was  accompanied  by  her  daughter, 
who  was  charming,  and  a  perfect  type  of  the  jenne  Jille, 
sweet  and  modest  as  a  blush-rose  bud.  Then  Madame 
Siegfried,  Madame  Bogelot,  who  has  done  such  magnifi- 
cent work  for  women  in  the  dreadful  prison  of  St. 
Lazare,  and  our  own  Mrs.  Logan,  whose  earnest  black  eyes, 
under  the  halo  of  snowy  hair,  watched  every  movement  of 
the  speaker  with  great  interest.  Mrs.  Logan  was  accom- 
panied by  her  son  and 
I  his  wife,  who  were 
j  both  very  pleasant  and 
entertaining.  Next  to 
them  sat  Mrs.  Harrison 
and  Mrs.  McKee,  who 
were  visiting  Mrs. 
Whitelaw  Reid,  and 
who  made  so  many 
friends  abroad  where- 
ever  they  appeared.  One  of  the  Americans  residing  in 
Paris  spoke  of  them  as  "  our  American  Princesses,"  and  the 
name  soon  became  popular.  Next  to  them  sat  Mrs.  Palmer 
and  by  her  side  Miss  Hallowed,  who  is  one  of  the  most 
widely  acquainted  of  our  countrywomen  in  Paris.  Her 
opinion  is  sought  and  respected  on  everything  connected 
with  art,  and  she  has  a  warm  personal  acquaintance  with 
all  the  painters  and  sculptors  who  constitute  the  charmed 
inner  circle  in  the  famous  art  life  of  the  gay  capital. 
Last  of  all  was  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewell  of  Indianapolis, 
who  was  the  American  delegate  to  the  Exposition  Con- 
gress of  Women  in  Paris  in  1S89,    and    who    consequently 


Three  Gii' Is  in  a  Flat. 


35 


has  an  acquaintance  with  numbers  of  prominent  workers 
^mong  the  French  people. 

"The  Americans  had  been  invited  by  Mrs.  Palmer,  and 
as  I  looked  around  the  room  I  could  not  restrain  a  feeling 
of  pride,  for  I  knew  our  ladies  did  not  suffer  in  com- 
parison. 

"Madame  de  Morsier  spoke  of  the  interest  felt  by  every 
one  in  Paris  in  the  Exposition,  and  cited  in  instance  of  it, 
that  M.  Jules  Simon  had  expressed  to  her  his  willingness 
to  be  present  on  this  occasion.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  in 
English  just  how  she 
said  it,  but  we  all 
gathered  that  he  had 
sent  the  message  as  a 
token  of  friendliness 
and  good  will,  and 
without  the  actual  in- 
tention of  coming. 
When  she  told  this  I 
heard   little   murmurs, 

and  saw  the  approving  nods  around  the  room,  for  M. 
Simon  is  probably  more  respected  and  loved  than  any 
statesman  in  France  at  the  present  day.  He  has  been 
honored  by  a  Senatorship  for  life,  and  although  he  is  now 
quite  an  old  man,  he  still  retains  unimpaired  his  wonder- 
ful faculties. 

"  Madame  de  Morsier  had  found  no  difficulty  in  describ- 
ing the  moral  and  philanthropic  aims  of  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers,  but  when  she  came  to  the  more  practical  part 
of  the  undertaking  and  tried  to  tell  about  the  Woman's 
Building,  it  was  evident  that  she,  like  so  many  others,  was 
confused  by  the  words  '  separate  '   and   '  special '   exhibits. 


36  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

M.  Siegfried  interrupted  her  with  a  question,  and  Mrs.  Pal- 
mer leaned  forward,  and  tried  to  tell  her  in  a  few  low  words 
how  to  reply.  Madame  de  Morsier  was  about  to  proceed, 
when  M.  Siegfried  politely  asked,  '  Will  not  Mrs.  Palmer 
explain  this  point  to  us  herself  ? '  She  rose  smiling,  and 
said,  '  I  beg  that  you  will  excuse  me,  as  my  French  is 
somewhat  limited,  and  Madame  de  Morsier  will  tell  you 
about  it  much  better  than  I  could  possibly  do.'  'No,  no, 
no,'  came  from  all  parts  of  the  room;  'Let  us  hear  Mrs. 
Palmer,  she  speaks  French  very  well,'  etc.,  etc.,  and  amid 
the  chorus  of  echoing  voices  she  was  obliged  to  rise  again. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  how  she  looked  as  she  stood  in  the 
middle  of  the  large  salon,  explaining  to  these  distinguished 
French  people  in  their  own  language  the  difficult  points 
that  would  require  an  unusual  vocabulary  and  a  judicious 
choice  of  words  in  one's  own  tongue.  Sometimes  she  was 
at  a  loss  for  a  moment,  and  then  she  would  stop  and  appeal 
to  M.  Siegfried,  or  change  her  way  of  phrasing,  for  it  was 
quite  a  different  thing  to  talking  the  ordinary  French  of  shop 
or  drawing-room,  which  she  speaks  with  fluency.  She  never 
for  an  instant  lost  the  perfect  self-poise  and  charming 
dignity  that  lent  an  added  impressiveness  to  her  every  word. 

"As  I  saw  the  interest  deepening  on  every  face,  turned  to 
this  slender  young  woman,  and  noted  the  deferential  atten- 
tion given,  not  to  her  beauty  or  her  position,  or  to  the  grace 
of  her  manner,  but  to  her  wonderful  intelligence,  and  to 
the  clear  reasoning  that  dominated  her  hesitating  speech,  I 
felt  a  strange  sense  of  emotion.  Miss  Hallowed  leaned 
over  to  me  and  whispered,  '  I  never  expected  to  see  such  a 
sight  as  this,'  and  I  noticed  the  moisture  in  her  eyes. 

"After  Mrs.  Palmer  had  explained  the  doubtful  point, 
several  of  the  gentlemen  asked  questions,  to  all  of  which 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  37 

she  replied  with  perfect  readiness,  and  then  the  conversa- 
tion became  general.  M.  Siegfried,  who  is  a  tall,  imposing 
man,  with  a  bushy,  red  beard,  talked  very  sensibly  on  the 
ways  and  means  of  forming  a  new  committee  which  was  to 
co-operate  with  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  in  France, 
and  I  may  say  that  he  and  his  interesting  wife  from  that 
moment  did  everything  in  their  power  to  insure  the  success 
of  the  new  idea. 

"After  several  other  people  had  spoken  I  noticed  a  little 
stir  near  the  door,  and  the  man  at  the  entrance  announced 
in  a  loud  voice — '  M.  Jules  Simon.'  As  the  great  man 
entered  every  body  rose  to  his  feet,  and  Mrs.  Palmer 
walked  far  across  the  room  to  welcome  him.  It  was 
delightful  to  see  the  deference  with  which  he  was  treated. 
No  one  seemed  to  think  it  was  at  all  unusual  to  go  over  the 
entire  situation  again  as  if  nothing  had  been  said  before; 
and  when  he  rose  and  made  a  few  amiable  remarks  in  his 
thin,  quavering  voice,  it  was  touching  to  see  the  pleasure 
and  enthusiasm  with  which  they  were  received.  His  un- 
expected coming  gave  the  finishing  touch  to  a  very  success- 
ful day,  and  after  this  the  meeting  became  entirely  infor- 
mal and  many  confidential  groups  could  be  seen  chatting 
over  a  cup  of  tea. 

"Soon  after  this,  and  without  her  own  seeking,  Mrs.  Pal- 
mer had  an  audience  with  several  important  people,  includ- 
ing Madame  Carnot,  who  complimented  her  by  presenting 
her  with  the  President's  box  at  the  Comedie  Francaise,  and 
it  was  on  the  Saturday  following  the  reception  that  the 
members  of  the-  World's  Fair  Committee  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  expressed  their  willingness  to  have  women 
appointed  officially  to  co-operate  with  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers,  in  collecting  the  exhibit  of  women's  work  for 
the  Exposition." 


38 


Three   Girls  in  a  Flat. 


As  Marjorie  finished  reading  the  door  bell  rang,  and 
without  time  for  comment  the  girls  hastily  flew  to  their 
rooms  to  prepare  for  the  evening's  campaign,  for  it  was 
Friday,  and  many  callers  were  expected. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FRIDAY    EVENINGS. 

ili'N  the  parlor  we  gathered  in  our  best  attire, 
for  we  had  found  a  reception  evening  at 
last,  when  we  were  all  at  home.      The  new 
jardiniere,  which  Marjorie  had  made  out 
of  an  old  box  and  some  Lincrusta  Walton, 
was  filled  with  tall  chrysanthemums,  our 
best  cups  and  souvenir  spoons  were  ar- 
ranged on  the  little  Turkish  table,  and 
last  of  all  we  lighted  the  lamp  under  the 
brass  tea-kettle,  and   then  seated  our- 
selves to  "  await  the  rush,"  as  the  Duke 
said.      We   were    watching   the   smoke 
coming  in  volumes  from  the  throat  of 
the  tea-kettle,  when  a  gentle  knock  was 
heard  at  the  door. 
Marjorie  rose  with  a  most  winning  smile  to  greet — Mrs. 
Brown! 

"Ah,  good  evening,"  said  our  irrepressible  neighbor; 
"Expecting  company  ?"  and  she  glanced  at  Gene's  white 
gown! 

"  Oh,  no;  we  always  dress  this  way  in  the  evening." 
And  the  Duke,  who  had  not  forgotten  the  molasses  candy 
episode,  looked  severely  at  Mrs.  Brown. 

"Why,  I  think  I'll  stay  and  take  a  cup  of  tea  with  you. 
Looks  cozy,  doesn't  it?" 


40  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

And  the  good  woman  with  a  serene  smile  settled  herself 
comfortably  before  the  fire,  put  her  feet  upon  the  newly 
polished  brass  fender  and  sipped  our  fragrant  Bohea, 
which  Marjorie  offered  her,  I  must  confess  a  little  grudg- 
ingly. 

"You  know  Mrs.  Jackson  always  says  that  I  am  pretty 
lucky,  and  I  begin  to  think  I  am,"  she  continued,  heedless 
of  the  fact  that  we  were  not  any  of  us  particularly  cordial. 
"  Did  I  tell  you,  Miss  Fairfax,  that  I  was  going  to  apply  to 
our  landlord  for  a  new  Pasteur  filter  ?  Well,  while  I  was 
making  an  application  I  wrote  down  a  list  of  things  :  a 
new  filter,  a  stained-glass  window  in  the  bathroom  and 
wire  screens  for  the  windows,  and  will  you  believe  me  when 
I  tell  you  that  he  sent  them  all  ?  I  was  more  surprised 
than  any  one  else." 

"  I  don't  understand  that  at  all,  Mrs.  Brown,"  said  Mar- 
jorie, putting  her  teacup  down  on  the  table  with  em- 
phasis. 

"  Never  mind,  my  dear,  I  do.  My  nephew  James  is  on 
the  editorial  staff  of  the  Herald,  and  he  could  so  easily 
mention  that  the  St.  Julien  Flats  are  managed  well — or 
otherwise,  you  know." 

"  But,  Mrs.  Brown,  think  of  the  injustice  of  it.  Here  we 
have  repeatedly  asked  to  have  Katie's  room  calcimined, 
and  Mr.  Thompkins  has  paid  no  attention  to  us,  and  we 
finally  had  it  done  at  our  own  expense." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  indeed,  my  dear,  but  I  cannot  help  it. 
I  will  have  to  drown  my  sorrow  in  another  cup  of  your  de- 
licious tea,"  she  answered,  laughingly. 

Virginia,  who  saw  that  Mrs.  Brown  was  a  fixture,  resorted 
to  a  little  strategy,  as  we  did  not  desire  her  to  be  one  of 
our  reception  committee. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  41 

"Mrs.  Brown,  you  must  come  out  and  see  Katie's  room. 
We  told  her  to  choose  any  color   she    liked   for  her  walls, 
1  and  to  our  horror  she   chose   an   intense  rose  color,  which 
does  not  go  well  with  her  auburn  hair." 

Mrs.  Brown  arose,  and  we  followed  her  to  the  kitchen 
hoping"  that  she  would  go  on  upstairs  to  her  own  flat. 
Katie's  room  amused  her  very  much,  with  its  rose-colored 
walls,  and  the  box  in  one  corner  covered  with  turkey-red 
calico  and  some  coarse  white  lace,  while  the  same  lace 
hung  from  the  windows  and  was  looped  back  with  red 
ribbon  bows.  As  we  were  talking  the  bell  rang,  and  little 
Mary  went  to  open  the  door.  We  breathed  a  sigh  of  re- 
lief as  Mrs.  Brown  said  : 

"  Oh,  I  must  go  now — but  who  do  you  suppose  it  is,  girls  ? 
I  believe  I'll  just  peep  through  the  back  parlor  door,"  and 
before  we  could  remonstrate  with  her,  she  had  walked  out 
into  the  hall,  followed  by  Virginia,  who  looked  calm  but 
resigned. 

"  Here,  let  me  see  the  name,"  and  our  worthy 
neighbor  seized  the  card  from  little  Mary's  tray. 

"  E.  T.  Barker!  Why,  my  dear,  he  was  one  of 
Dr.  Jackson's  most  devoted  friends."  And  be- 
fore we  fully  realized  it  Mrs.  Brown  had  glided 
into  the.  parlor  and  was  greeting  effusively  Ma- 
jor Barker,  late  Minister  to  Turkey,  and  a 
charming  man. 

There  was  no  help  for  it,  so  we  followed  her 
and  acted  as  assistants,  while  she  played  host- 
ess. The  parlor  was  soon  filled  and  we  were 
having  a  very  jolly  time,  for  if  there  is  one  thing  for  which 
Mrs.  Brown  is  famous,  it  is  entertaining,  and  she  does  it 
royally. 


42 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


"  Now  do  take  another  cup  of  tea,  Major — and  you  say 
you  brought  a  cook  from  the  Orient  ? " 

"  I  did,  my  dear  madam,  and  in  honor  of  the  arrival  of 
my  foreign  chef,  I  invited  a  number  of  friends  to  dinner, 
and  what  do  you  suppose  he  gave  us  ?  Upon  my  word 
and  honor,  all  we  had  were  carrots  and  molasses  candy 
mixed  ! " 

Just  here  little  Mary  announced  Colonel  Rogers,  and 
through  the  curtain  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  tall,  uncouth 
looking  man,  with  a  broad 
slouch  hat,  which  he  hung 
with  a  flounce  on  our  lit- 
tle hat-rack,  almost  cov- 
ering it. 

The  announcement  was 
quickly  followed  by  the 
gentleman  himself,  who 
came  into  the  room  in  a 
breezy  manner  which  took 
us  all  by  storm.  He  strode 
up  to  the  Duke  and  seized 
her  by  both  hands. 

He  was  at  least  six  feet 
tall  and  fleshy  in  propor- 
tion, while  his  face  was 
round  and  bespoke  good 
nature.  His  hair  stood 
straight  up  all  over  his 
head,  and  looked  as  if 
there  was  no  treaty  of 
reciprocity  between  it  and  the  brush. 

The  Duke  introduced  him  as  Colonel  Rogers,  of   Ken- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  43 


tuckv,  and  after  cordially  shaking  each  guest  by  the  hand, 
he  seated  himself  comfortably  in  our  best  rocking-chair  and 
beamed  amiably  on  the  assembled  company.  Under  his 
broad,  turn-down  collar  was  a  thin  black  ribbon,  tied  in  a 
straggling  bow,  which,  before  the  evening  was  over,  had 
worked  itself  around  under  his  left  ear.  His  whiskers 
formed  an  aggressive  halo  around  his  face,  and  his  clothes 
were  large  and  roomy,  and  were  evidently  made  for  com- 
fort. His  vest  was  fastened  at  the  top  and  bottom,  but 
the  intervening  space  was  guiltless  of  buttons. 

Pulling  his  chair  towards  Major  Barker,  he  carelessly 
crossed  his  feet,  and  I  noticed  that  over  one  of  his  large 
shoes  dangled  a  white  string. 

"  Well,  Miss  Duke,  I  tried  to  send  my  card  up  in  that 
whistle,  but  I  couldn't  make  it  work,"  and  the  Colonel 
threw  back  his  head  and  laughed  heartily. 

"  I  tell  you,  you  all  have  so  many  new  fangled  notions 
here  in  Chicago  that  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  at  anything. 
Major,  are  you  a  native  ?  " 

Major  Barker,  seeing  that  he  had  an  entertaining  speci- 
men near  him,  answered  heartily  : 

"  Yes,  Colonel,  I  am.  And  your  home  is  in  Kentucky,  I 
presume  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  am  a  native  Kentuckian,  born  and  raised  in  the 
Green  River  country.  I've  represented  my  county  twice  in 
the  Legislature,  and  have  been  a  candidate  three  times  for 
Circuit  Jedge." 

His  not  having  been  elected  cut  no  figure  with  the  Colo- 
nel, as  the  fact  of  being  a  candidate,  though  three  times 
unsuccessful,  was  honor  enough  for  him. 

"  Now,  this  cane  was  presented  to  me  in  '80  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Agriculture,  of  which  I  had  the  honor  of  being 
Chairman." 


44  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

And  the  Colonel  leaned  out  and  took  from  the  hat-rack  in 
our  little  hall  an  unwieldly  cane  with  a  massive  gold  head. 

"Made  the  finest  speech  in  my  life  when  that  cane  was 
given  to  me — fairly  bro't  down  the  house,  and  Jedge  Emer- 
son told  me  afterwards  that  he  tho't  it  was  the  effort  of  my 
life." 

"Talking  of  oratory,  Colonel,  do  you  know  Colonel  Mc- 
Kenzie  ?  " 

"What,  Quinine  Jim?  Best  friend  I've  got  in  the 
world.  Why,  he  was  raised  next  do'  to  me  in  the  Green 
River  country,  and  there  ain't  no  finer  man  between  Penny- 
rile  and  the  Purchase  than  that  very  Jim  McKenzie." 

Just  here  I  want  to  say  that  the  State  of  Kentucky  is  di- 
vided into  four  sections — the  "Mountains,"  the  "Bluegrass," 
the  "  Pennyroyal  "  and  the  "  Purchase,"  the  district  be- 
tween the  last  two  sections  being  the  Colonel's  home. 

"And  if  it  hadn't  been  for  me,"  Colonel  Rogers  contin- 
ued pompously,  "  I  don't  think  Jim  ever  would  have  been 
in  Congress  ;  for  the  first  time  he  run  it  was  pretty  shaky, 
but  the  members  of  our  section  of  the  Congressional  Dees- 
trict  just  took  off  our  coats  and  wheeled  our  counties  into 
line  for  Jim,  and  we've  been  proud  of  it  ever  sence.  I  tell 
you,  he  is  the  tallest  talker  in  the  State,  and  can  talk  all 
around  any  one  of  them  Congressmen." 

And  at  the  recollection  of  his  friend's  political  prowess, 
the  Colonel  put  his  hand  affectionately  on  Major  Barker's 
knee. 

"Why  do  you  call  him  Quinine  Jim  ?  " 

"  Because  he  made  the  famous  speech  in  Congress  to 
take  the  tariff  off  quinine  so  we  could  buy  it  cheap,  for  in 
our  deestrict  there  are  so  many  swamps  that  we  buy  qui- 
nine by  the  pound,  and  then  we  shake  our  teeth  out." 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  45 

And  the  Colonel  gave  another  of  his  laughs  at  this  re- 
mark, demonstrating  to  the  entire  company  that  the  best 
of  his  teeth  had  been  shaken  out  years  ago. 

"  Yes,  Jim  McKenzie  has  fixed  things  now  so  that  a  poor 
man  can  afford  to  have  a  chill  now  and  then." 

We  girls  silently  sipped  our  tea,  for  the  conversation  was 
absorbed  by  Colonel  Rogers,  and  our  guests  formed  an  in- 
terested group  around  him,  while  he  was  in  his  element, 
being  the  center  of  attraction. 

Mrs.  Brown  was  having  the  best  time  of  anybody,  and 
many  a  furtive  glance  did  the  Colonel  cast  at  her  comely, 
matronly  figure,  as  he  recited  his  experiences.  She  was 
not  a  beautiful  Desdemona,  but  she  evidently  pleased  this 
modern  Othello,  and  the  thought  of  the  six  little  mother- 
less Browns  across  the  way  never  entered  her  head. 

We  were  just  about  to  accompany  Colonel  Rogers 
through  another  political  campaign,  when  little  Mary  ap- 
proached Mrs.  Brown  and  whispered  excitedly  : 

"  Please,  ma'am,  Miss  Ariadne  thinks  Philander  has 
swallowed  something,  and  we  are  afraid  it  is  a  tack." 

The  Colonel,  who  had  heard  it,  immediately  arose  and 
looked  more  agitated  than  the  mother,  and  with  all  the 
elegance  resulting  from  the  polishing  influence  of  two 
terms  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature,  said  :  "Allow  me  to 
serve  you,  my  dear  madam  ;  can  I  go  for  a  doctor  ? " 

"  Oh,  no,  not  at  all,"  Mrs.  Brown  answered  nonchalantly. 
"I  don't  mind  his  swallowing  tacks,  if  he  will  only  let 
nickels  and  dimes  alone.  Why,  he  has  quite  depleted  my 
purse,  and  the  number  of  buttons  he  has  disposed  of  is 
something  astonishing." 

And  with  many  courtesies  the  worthy  lady  made  her 
adieu — reluctantly,  I  must  admit — while  the   Colonel,  with 


46 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


L; 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  47 

much  deliberate  ceremony,  handed  her  out  of  the  door, 
Mrs.  Brown, with  quiet  elegance  mincing  out: — for  Philander 
could  swallow  tacks,  nickels,  dimes  and  the  United  States 
mint,  but  his  mother  must  not  forget  her  deportment. 

"  Ah,  good-night,  Colonel,  I  trust  I  shall  hear  more  of 
your  exceedingly  interesting  experiences  at  another  time." 

"  But,  my  dear  madam,  allow  me  to  see  you  to  your 
own  door." 

"  Girls,  I  can^t  miss  that  fun,"  and  the  Duke  followed 
them  out  into  the  hall.  She  afterwards  told  us  that  Ariadne 
was  holding  the  door  open  for  her  mother,  and  from  the 
stairs  she  caught  sight  of  the  bedroom  where  the  five  small 
Browns  were  domiciled.  She  said  that  Philander  was  in 
the  middle  of  the  bed  gasping  for  breath,  and  about  him 
were  as  many  small  brothers  as  could  be  accommodated 
with  a  sight  of  his  sufferings,  while  the  boys  who  could  not 
get  near  enough  were  consoling  themselves  by  tumbling 
somersaults  over  the  foot  of  the  adjoining  bed,  all  five  be- 
ing in  various  stages  of  undress. 

When  the  Colonel  returned  he  began  a  lengthy  reminis- 
cence upon  the  times  that  his  sons  had  gotten  into  similar 
difficulties,  and  the  remedies  that  he  had  used,  ending  with 
the  astonishing  announcement  that  the  best  thing  as  far  as 
he  knew  for  everything  was  a  good,  stout  toddy. 

"  By  the  way,  Major,  did  you  ever  drink  any  of  the  mint 
juleps  made  after  Colonel  Stoddard  Johnson's  recipe  ?  You 
haven't  !  Well,  I  tell  you,  if  you  ever  come  out  to  old 
Kaintuck,  I'll  give  you  such  another  julep  as  you  never 
tasted  in  all  your  life  before." 

We  began  to  fear  that  our  tea  had  fallen  dead  against 
the  Colonel's  lurid  palate.  But  nevertheless  he  waxed  elo- 
quent and  poetic  as  he  described  the  mint-bed  in  his  own 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


back  yard  at  home,  declaring  that  the  moon  only  shone  at 
its  best  in  old  Kentucky,  when  the  mocking-birds  were 
singing  in  the  chinquepin  trees,  and  we  began  to  think 
that  Mrs.  Brown's  influence  and  a  cup  of  tea  had  certainly 
inspired  him. 

"Very  fine  woman,  that  Mrs.  Brown,"  said  the  Colonel, 
as  he  gave  a  masterly  stroke  to  his  aggressive  whiskers. 
"Er — ah — a  widow?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marjorie,  "  she  is  the  widow  of  the  late 
Judge  Brown,  who  was  an  old  Baltimorean,  though  he 
fought  on  the  Northern  side  in  the  war." 

"  You  don't  say  so  !  She  can't  be  the  widow  of  Andrew 
Brown  ?  What  !  She  is  ?  Why,  I  remember  hearing  of  him, 
and  I  also  remember  what  a  lively  time  we  gave  them  at 
Bull  Run.  I  tell  you  the  Yankees  were  pretty  well  played 
out  that  time,"  and  the  Colonel  rubbed  his  knees  and 
chuckled  to  himself  over  the  pleasant  recollection. 

"So  she's  Andrew  Brown's  widow?  Well,  well,  I  must 
come  up  and  call  on  her  before  I  leave  town." 

We  all  smiled,  devoutly  wishing  that  he  would  persuade 
our  neighbor  and  her  six  incumbrances  to  remove  to  Green 
River  country,  Kentucky,  for  as  Mrs.  Brown  had  spent 
many  years  of  her  life  in  listening  to  the  stories  of  Federal 
bravery,  it  would  be  no  more  than  right  that  in  her  declin- 
ing days  she  should  hear  the  other  side,  and  if  she  should 
eventually  be  urged  to  do  so  and  remove  from  the  flat,  we 
would  forever  after  bless  our  Fridav  evenings. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IN    THE    FIRELIGHT. 


gXa  "yl  I  HE  little  red   lamp  shed    a  soft,   rosy  light  over  the 

^tt&jli^lHp  I    room,  and  the  fire  blazed  cheerily,  with  now  and  then 

an  extra  bright  flame   for  imagination's  sake.      The 

tall  lamp  beside  the  piano  had  been  blown  out, 

(vT-— .^.™^j    and  books  and     papers    were    strewn   around, 

'  if]     while   in    a    corner     was    a    suspicious-looking 

stand,  half  draped  in  a  damp  gray  cloth.     Now, 

as  the  firelight  fell  upon  it,  it  was  a  beautiful  woman;  again 

a  strong  man  in  repose,  and  again,  some  fairy  child. 

The  flat  was  quiet;  evidently  no  one  at  home  but  the  girl 
in  a  luxurious  gown  seated  before  the  fire.  Her  feet,  cased 
in  red  Turkish  slippers,  were  elevated  to  the  top  of  the  brass 
fender;  her  head  was  thrown  back  and  from  it  had  slipped 
a  red  fez  which  lay  on  the  floor;  her  eyes  were  closed,  and 
around  the  deep  corners  of  her  mouth  and  slightly  parted 
lips  there  played  a  smile — or  was  it  the  firelight  ?  Regularly 
the  breaths  came,  and  deep;  the  maiden  slept.  A.  little 
Dutch  clock  on  the  mantel  pointed  the  hour  of  ten. 

The  other  girls  had  gone  to  the  opera,  and  after  a  hard 
day's  work  at  her  studio,  the  Duke  had  come  home,  dined 
alone,  and  donning  gown  and  slippers  had  begun  a  little 
sketch  for  the  Woman's  Building. 

The  ideas  formed  themselves  too  slowly  for  her  quick 
perception  of  form,  and,  throwing  aside  her  tools,  she  had 
put  out  the  largest  lamp  and  seated  herself  to  "  study  it 
out."     And  the  ideas,  like  the  flames  in  front  of  her,  blazed 


5° 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


and  died  away  until  her  tired  and  overworked  mind  re- 
fused to  answer,  and  sleep,  the  heaven  of  the  intellect, 
dawned  upon  her.  Over  her  chair  leaned  a  handsome,  dark 
head;  two  eyes,  whose  depths  few  saw,  looked  upon  her, 
and  round  her  waist  stole  an  arm  and  strong  white  hand; 
the  other  grasped  hers  as  it  lay  on  her  knee,  and  the  light 


"  MARJORIE,  SEATED   IN   THE   HAMMOCK,  WAS   DRAWING   OFF   A   GLOVE." 

revealed  the  prominent  blue  veins  and  slender  nails  of  the 
honest,  masculine  hand. 

The  Duke  started,  and  as  she  did  so  her  forehead  touched 
his  lips,  as  he  knelt  beside  her.  For  an  instant  a  fearful 
look  came  in  her  eyes,  but  as  she  gazed  into  his,  all  fear 
departed,  and   deep,  trustful  love  beamed  forth;    and,  with 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


5i 


a  sigh  of  relief,  abandon- 
ment and  rest,  she  laid 
her  head  upon  his 
shoulder. 

"Are  you  ready,  dear- 
est, will  you  come  with 
me  ? " 

A  deep,  baritone  voice 
spoke,  like  the  full  stop 
of  an  organ,  whose  power 
and  gentleness  carries  all 
before  it. 

"Come  with  you? 
Why,  and  where?" 

"  Come,  because  I  have 
waited  so  long  for  your 
coming;  come  to  me  and 
rest.  Complete  my  life; 
give  me  love;  all  else  I 
have." 

Did  he  know  to  whom 
he  spoke  ?  Was  it  to  the 
proud,  imperious,  inde- 
pendent Duke  he  talked 
of  filling  another's  life? 
He  afo/know,  for  her  ideal 
knelt  beside  her;  a  man 
to  honor,  love,  work  for, 
die  for,  live  for. 

Where  had  he  come 
from?  Who  was  he?  It 
mattered    not;  two   souls 


£-1 


52 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


had  met,  she  knew  what  he  was,  and  her  head  and  heart, 
worn  out  in  their  struggle  to  conquer  the  world  alone,  lay 
quiet  on  his  breast. 

"  Why  came  you  so  late,  dear  ?  " 

"The  time  is  only  now  ripe,  sweetheart;  you  must  have 
suffered  and  worked  and  learned  all  you  know  alone  to  be 
willing  to  come  with  me;  "  and  now,  with  a  quick,  impulsive 
gesture,  he  took  her  in  his  arms;  and  she,  like  a  true  woman, 
clung  to  the  strength  and  good  that  was  in  him. 


A  peal  of  laughter,  a  stumble  at  the  door,  a  knob  quickly 
turned,  and  in  came  the  girls  and  their  escorts.  She  rose, 
desolate,  forsaken,  her  arms  out  before  her,  a  lonely  feeling 
and  a  chill  in  her  heart.  Was  it  the  laugh  of  a  demon? 
Had  her  love  disappeared  like  a  phantom  ? 

"Hello,  Duke!  asleep,  old  girl?"  Marjorie,  seated  in 
the  hammock,  began  drawing  off  a  glove;  Gene,  in  her 
opera-cloak,  stood  before  her,  and  then  she  knew  it  was 
a  dream.  The  fancy  of  an  over-worked  woman's  brain 
that  needed  rest  and  love. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    BOARD    OF    LADY    MANAGERS. 

[To  which  the  fiat  owes  its  being}) 

WHEN  the  World's  Fair  Bill  was 
under  discussion  by  the  Fifty- 
first  Congress,  Mr.  Wm.  T.  Springer, 
of  Illinois,  rose  one  bright  morning 
with  an  amendment. 

The  general  bill  had  provided  for 
the  formation  of  a  Commission,  and 
the  amendment  added  that  "  said  Com- 
mission is  authorized  and  required  to  appoint  a  Board  of 
Lady  Managers,  of  such  number  and  to  perform  such 
duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Commission."  When 
the  bill  was  reported  to  the  house  for  a  final  hearing,  the 
amendment  was  not  read.  Mr.  Springer  called  attention 
to  the  omission,  and  the  chairman  of  the  committee  replied 
that  it  was  unintentional — the  amendment  having  been 
left  out  because  the  committee  considered  it  of  no  impor- 
tance whatever,  but  that  if  desired  it  could  yet  be  restored 
to  the  bill,  and  this  was  consequently  done. 

Mr.  Springer  offered  his  amendment  as  a  graceful  trib- 
ute to  the  women  of  our  country,  and  it  was  passed  by 
Congress  without  a  dissenting  voice,  and  without  one 
thought  of  the  importance  of  the  measure  which  was  to 
give  legal  right,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  any 
nation,  to  the  organization  of  a  body  of  women  to  transact 
business  for  the  Government. 

53 


54  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


The  women  themselves,  who  were  appointed  under  this 
act  in  the  various  States,  did  not  realize  for  one  moment 
the  responsibility  and  power  thus  given  them,  and  when 
for  the  first  time  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  was  con- 
vened in  Chicago  in  November,  1890,  there  was  much  hes- 
itation and  a  great  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  the  object  of 
its  existence  and  the  future  possibilities  which  lay  before  it. 

It  was  a  representative  body  of  women  that  gathered  in 
the  pretty  hall  at  Kinsley's  that  bright,  crisp,  November 
morning.  Some  had  had  experience  with  parliamentary 
law  in  their  charitable  and  club  work  at  home,  but  the 
majority  were  totally  untutored  in  business  methods  and 
came  together  with  a  feeling  of  hesitation  that  prevented 
them  from  giving  utterance  to  their  ideas.  Some  were  busi- 
ness women,  school  teachers,  farmers,  lawyers  and  physi- 
cians, while  one  woman  was  most  successful  as  a  real  estate 
dealer,  and  another  had  charge  of  a  valuable  plantation  in 
Louisiana.  Several  owned  or  edited  newspapers,  but  by 
far  the  greater  number  were  the  wives  and  mothers  who 
had  come,  for  the  first  time,  to  take  part  in  public  affairs. 
On  every  hand  the  question  was  asked,  "What  are  we  here 
for?"  and  no  one  seemed  to  answer.  The  Commissioners, 
when  appealed  to,  were  as  much  at  sea  as  their  appointees 
on  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  but  all  agreed  that  the 
first  thing  to  do  was  to  effect  a  permanent  organization.  In 
accordance  with  this,  committees  were  formed,  by-laws 
made,  and  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  of  Chicago,  was  elected 
President. 

When  the  meeting  adjourned,  the  ladies  had  become 
somewhat  acquainted  with  each  other  and  had  voted  upon 
several  questions  of  importance,  especially  upon  having  no 
separate  exhibit   of   women's  work   at  the  Exposition.     It 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


55 


was  conceded  by  all  that  competitors  would  wish  to  receive 

I       awards  upon  the  basis  of  merit  and  not  of  sex,  and  that  in 

consequence  the  best  exhibitors  would  not  send  their  work 


unless  for  general  competition.  It  was  also  agreed  that  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  to  ask  the  Directors  of  the  World's 
Fair  for  a  building  in   which  a  special   exhibit   could  be 


56  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

shown  that  would  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  progress 
that  women  had  made  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

When  the  members  left  the  city,  all  these  undeveloped 
suggestions  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  a  young 
woman  who  had  had  no  experience  whatever  in  public 
affairs.  It  has  been  widely  recorded  how  well  she  per- 
formed her  task,  and  when  the  Board  met  for  the  second 
time,  in  September,  '91,  it  was  on  an  entirely  different 
plane,  and  with  the  brightest  prospects  of  future  usefulness. 
The  first  circular  sent  out  from  the  office  of  the  Board 
asked  the  members  to  petition  their  legislatures  to  secure 
an  appropriation  for  the  World's  Fair,  and  to  request  at 
the  same  time  that  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers  be  recognized  on  the  State  Board.  In  many 
States  this  was  done,  giving  these  women  an  entirely  un- 
precedented authority,  and  to  their  credit  be  it  said,  that 
in  many  instances  the  legislators  acknowledged  that  their 
attention  had  first  been  brought  to  the  World's  Fair 
through  the  efforts  of  these  women. 

The  Board  asked  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  Installa- 
tion Department  to  place  on  the  blanks  they  were  sending 
out  to  manufacturers  the  innocent  little  question,  "  Do  you 
employ  any  women  in  the  manufacture  of  this  article,  and 
if  so,  what  proportion  of  it  is  their  work?"  There  have 
been  many  responses,  and  as  every  article  manufactured  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  women  is  to  bear  some  graceful  device 
showing  the  fact,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  to  those  inter- 
ested, the  World's  Fair  will  present  the  most  remarkable 
display  of  women's*work  that  has  ever  been  made  public, 
and  the  heretofore  unrepresented  factory  woman  will  re- 
ceive her  due  share  of  credit  for  the  work  she  has  done. 

Congress    in  its   original   action   had   decided   that  the 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  57 

Board  of  Lady  Managers  might  be  allowed  to  have  one  or 
more  members  on  the  juries  which  were  to  award  prizes 
for  articles  which  had  been  in  whole  or  in  part  manu- 
factured by  women.  This  gave  a  power  to  the  Board 
which  was  entirely  unprecedented,  for  no  women  have  ever 
been  allowed  to  serve  as  jurors  in  previous  expositions. 

When  the  subject  came  up  for  consideration  at  a  later 
time,  the  Commission  agreed  to  this  without  the  slightest 
hesitation,  and  so  little  conception  did  the  members  have 
of  the  extent  of  this  work,  that  they  offered  at  first  to  allow 
the  juries  to  be  composed  entirely  of  women  that  were  to 
judge  of  women's  work. 

When  it  was  afterwards  discovered  that  women  are  em- 
ployed in  nearly  every  branch  of  industry,  this  gracious 
permission  was  modified  to  allowing  women  members  on 
the  juries  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  women's  work 
represented  in  the  articles  to  be  judged.  Even  this  was 
an  enormous  concession,  as  the  recently  appointed  Com- 
mittee on  Juries  is  just  beginning  to  realize. 

No  one  could  question  the  fairness  of  allowing  women 
as  jurors  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  women's  work  repre- 
sented in  the  article  to  be  judged,  and  yet  when  one  takes  into 
consideration  the  fact  that  women  have  not  heretofore 
been  allowed  this  privilege,  and  also  that  it  would  be 
yielding  up  much  power  and  political  patronage  to  allow 
women  the  appointing  of  a  number  of  jurors,  it  seems  that 
the  action  of  the  Commission  in  this  regard  was  not  only 
fair  and  honorable,  but  noble  and  high-minded. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Commission  which  has  from 
the  first  treated  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  with  great 
courtesy  and  absolute  fairness,  will  never  by  any  future 
action  change  this  ruling  which  has  won  it  the  praise  and 
gratitude  of  every  thinking  woman  in  the  nation. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


In  January,  1891,  when  the  subject  of  a  National  ap- 
propriation for  the  year  for  the  World's  Fair  was  under 
discussion,  and  enemies  of  the  bill  were  very  anxious  to 
have  a  small  amount  named,  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  and  the  Finance  Committee  went  to  Wash- 
ington to  see  what  might  be  done.  When  they  arrived 
they  found  matters  in  the  most  unpromising  state.  The 
bill  had  in  the  Senate  been  cut  down  to  $40,000,  which  was 
not  enough  for  the  running  expenses  of  the  Commission 
alone,  and  no  allowance  had  been  made  for  the  wants  of 
the  Board  of  Lady  Managers.  The  Finance  Committee 
and  the  President  had  an  interview  with  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee to  which  this  matter  had  been  referred,  which  had  a 
direct  and  acknowledged  result  of  raising  the  amount  from 
$40,000  to  $95,500,  of  which  sum  $36,000  was  named  for 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers.  This 
was  a  great  triumph  and  occasioned  much  rejoicing  among 
the  members  of  the  Board,  who  had  felt  that  a  failure  to 
secure  an  appropriation  would  make  them  entirely  dependent 
on  the  Commission,  would  certainly  restrict  their  future 
usefulness,  and  might  imperil  their  very  existence.  One  of 
the  principal  arguments  used  in  presenting  the  case  to  the 
Senators  was  the  fact  that  the  Directors  of  the  World's  Fair 
had  graciously  given  to  the  Board  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  with  which  to  erect  a  building  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  women,  which  should  be  known  as  the 
Woman's  Building. 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers  met  for  the  second  time 
in  Apollo  Hall,  and  it  was  no  longer  agathering  of  strangers, 
trying  to  find  a  familiar  face,  or  identify  some  well-known 
name  with  some  strange  personality.  It  was  more  like  a 
meeting  of  friends,  and  there  was  laughter  and  general 
cheer,  for  the  Board  had  had  its  trials  as  well  as  its  victo- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  59 

ries,  which  had  bound  more  closely  together  the  members 
from  the  various  states.  The  ladies  all  knew  each  other, 
at  least  by  correspondence,  and  many  were  the  rejoicings 
at  this  meeting.  The  President's  desk  was  a  mass  of  lilies 
and  roses  and  fragrant  sweet  peas,  and  the  young  President 
herself,  in  light  gray  gown,  returned  the  many  greetings 
with  smiling  face,  while  at  her  left  presided  the  able  secre- 


THE    FAVORITE    USHER. 


tary,  Mrs.  Cooke.  Three  or  four  pretty  children  acted  as 
pages,  while  Mrs.  Logan's  niece — a  charming  young  girl — 
was  decidedly  the  favorite  usher. 

At  the  November  meeting,  the  prominent  members  had 
been  those  whose  reputation  and  experience  gave  them  the 
right  to  be  heard,  and  while  their  influence  was  no  less 
strong  at  the  second  meeting,  yet  many  new  voices  had 
gained  confidence  to  speak,  though  one  of  the  most  elo- 


60  Three  Gir/s  in  a  Flat. 

quent  and  beloved — Mrs.  Darby's,  of  South  Carolina — was 
missing. 

Among  the  ladies  present  who  had  achieved  national 
reputation  were  Mrs.  Logan  and  Mrs.  Hooker.  Mrs.  Logan 
was  a  tall,  commanding-looking  woman,  whose  gray  hair, 
brushed  straight  back  from  her  intellectual  forehead,  gave 
her  an  air  of  distinction.  She  wore  deep  mourning,  and 
when  she  spoke  talked  straight  to  the  point,  while  her  tact 
and  diplomacy  showed  her  knowledge  and  long  association 
with  politicians.  Mrs.  Hooker  was  another  striking  and 
interesting  character,  and  her  piquant  remarks  added  much 
to  the  zest  of  the  meeting.  She  was  of  medium  height,  with 
marked  features,  clear  complexion,  beautiful  snowy  curls 
and  a  peculiar,  petulant  toss  of  the  head  that  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  Beecher  family,  I  am  told.  Mrs.  Barker,  of 
South  Dakota,  with  her  strong  face  and  clear  logic  won  the 
most  complete  attention,  while  Mrs.  Meredith,  of  Indiana, 
was  convincing  in  debate  ;  but  Mrs.  Eagle,  of  Arkansas, 
was  the  best  parliamentarian  on  the  Board,  and  brought  the 
ladies  to  strict  account  if  by  any  chance  they  spoke  twice 
to  the  same  subject. 

There  was  Mrs.  Russell  Harrison,  with  her  pretty  face 
and  sweet  manners,  and  her  charming  friend,  Mrs.  Salis- 
bury, of  Utah,  who  is  the  favorite  niece  of  Mr.  James  G. 
Blaine.  There  were  also  the  wives  of  the  Governors  of 
Montana  and  Maine,  Arkansas,  Mississippi  and  other  States. 
There  were  a  score  of  others,  too,  who  made  most  interest- 
ing speeches.  Mrs.  Lucas,  of  Philadelphia;  Mrs.  Ashley, 
of  Colorado;  Mrs.  Reed,  of  Maryland;  Mrs.  Lynde  and 
Ginty,  of  Wisconsin;  Mrs.  Bagley,  of  Michigan;  Miss  Beck, 
of  Florida;  Miss  Shakespeare,  of  Louisiana;  Mrs.  Hough- 
ton, of  Washington;    Mrs.    Oglesby  and  Mrs.  Shepard,  of 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


61 


i 


*3 


*  v. 


m 


Sc^L* 


"the  swell  member.' 


62  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


Illinois;  Mrs.  Starkweather,  of  Rhode  Island;  Mrs.  Brad- 
well  and  Mrs.  Mulligan,  of  Chicago;  Mrs.  Wilkins,  of  Wash- 
ington; Mrs.  Cantrill,  of  Kentucky;  Mrs.  Ryan,  of  Texas, 
Miss  Busselle,  of  New  Jersey;  Mrs.  Felton,  of  Georgia;  Mrs. 
Trautman,  of  New  York,  and  others,  while  Mrs.  Payton,  of 
Oregon,  whose  voice  before  had  been  unheard,  convulsed 
the  large  audience  many  times  with  her  witty  remarks. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  appearance  of  these  women, 
but  their  faces  were  all  bright  and  intelligent,  while,  for  the 
lovers  of  society,  there  were  many  pretty  women,  from  the 
graceful  member  from  western  Illinois,  to  the  swell  little 
member  from  New  York,  whose  light-trained  dress,  with 
its  high,  black  sleeves,  was  an  object  of  general  admiration 
to  the  rows  of  spectators  who  filled  every  available  inch  in 
the  parlors  behind  the  President's  desk. 

Many  prominent  and  well-known  gentlemen  attended 
these  meetings,  and  among  them  on  several  occasions  was 
seen  the  strong  face  of  Prof.  Swing,  whom  I  heard  several 
lady  managers  point  out  to  each  other  as  Mrs.  Palmer's 
husband. 

There  could  be  nothing  more  attractive  than  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  President  presided  over  the  meeting. 
Her  ease  and  grace,  and  the  winning  way  in  which  she 
recognized  each  member  who  took  the  floor,  were  alto- 
gether charming,  while  her  parliamentary  knowledge  was 
a  complete  surprise.  The  deliberations,  while  full  of  inter- 
est to  all,  were  marked  by  a  dignity  and  ease  that  were 
most  impressive. 

Before  the  second  meeting  of  the  full  Board,  a  letter 
had  been  prepared,  which  was  signed  by  the  President  of 
the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  and  sent  officially,  through 
the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Blaine  and  the  Department  of  State,  to 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  63 

every  country  in  the  world.  It  asked  that  the  government 
of  the  country  addressed  should  appoint  a  commission  of 
women  to  cooperate  with  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  in 
preparing  an  exhibit  from  their  country  that  should  show 
the  finest  and  best  work  that  women  have  done  from  the 
earliest  known  times  to  the  present  day.  This  request  was 
sent  not  only  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  fine  exhibit  of 
women's  work  from  each  foreign  country,  but  with  the 
special  intention  of  obtaining  recognition  for  women  by 
their  own  government.  This  was  particularly  to  be  desired 
in  the  countries  where  women  had  not  been  recognized  as 
fully  as  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  details  of  the  State  corre- 
spondence, but  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  result  thus  far 
has  exceeded  all  expectations.  In  nearly  every  instance 
the  sovereign  of  the  country  addressed  has  sent  a  courteous 
reply  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  and 
in  many  instances  Commissions  have  already  been  formed 
and  are  in  working  order. 

In  England  the  Woman's  Commission,  which  is  doing 
splendid  work,  is  under  the  immediate  patronage  of  the 
Princess  Christian,  who  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  family. 
In  Germany,  the  Princess  Friedrich  Karl  has  given  the 
formation  of  the  sub-committees  her  personal  attention. 
The  Queen  of  Belgium  has  graciously  consented  to  appoint 
a  commission  of  women  in  her  dominion;  while  in  Russia, 
Sweden,  Holland,  Greece,  Austria,  and  France  the  com- 
missions have  either  been  formed  or  are  in  process  of  or- 
ganization, and  in  all  cases  under  the  highest  patronage. 
Letters  have  also  been  received  from  Japan  and  the  Orient 
in  regard  to  the  subject,  while  such  distant  rulers  as  the 
Queen  of  Hawaii,  the  Governor-General  of  Cape  Town,  of 


64 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


Jamaica,  and  of  Cuba  and  Hayti,  in  the  West  Indies,  have 
expressed  their  willingness  to  appoint  these  Commissions. 
The  women  of  Central  and  South  America  are  also  actively 


engaged  in 
collecting 
their  exhib- 
its, and  Madame  Diaz, 
the  honored  wife  of   the 
President  of  Mexico,  has 
\       written    expressing    her 
|      cordial  approval  and  in. 
-        terest  in  the  plans  of  the 
Board  of  LadyManagers. 
The  Woman's  Building,  which  I  have  incidentally  men- 
tioned,  was   planned   by  a   young  girl,   aged    twenty-one, 
whose  designs   were  successful  in  the  competition  offered 
by  the    Board    of    Lady    Managers.     Miss    Hayden    is  of 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  65 


medium  height,  slender,  with  soft,  dark  hair,  and  a  pleas- 
ant manner  that  is  shy,  without  the  least  lack  of  confidence. 
She  is  a  graduate  of  the  Four  Years'  Course  of  the  Boston 
Institute  of  Technology,  where  she  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  earnest  pupils.  She  is  of  Spanish  parentage, 
and  inherits  the  soft,  dark  eyes  of  the  Latin  race;  though, 
perhaps,  it  is  her  long  residence  in  Boston  that  has  made 
her  so  quiet  and  reserved.  She  is  always  willing  to  talk  of 
her  work,  but  says  that  she  has  been  obliged  to  devote  so 
much  time  to  study  that  she  has  been  unable  to  acquire 
the  arts  that  make  society  attractive.  She  won  the  highest 
praise  from  the  architects  with  whom  she  was  associated  in 
making  the  working  drawings  of  the  Woman's  Building. 
Mr.  Burnham  expressed  himself  as  very  much  pleased  with 
her  and  said  that  she  had  great  adaptability,  and  could 
readily  seize  a  new  idea,  while  it  was  generally  known 
about  the  Construction  Department  that  no  one  could 
change,  by  any  amount  of  persuasion,  one  of  her  plans 
when  she  was  convinced  of  its  beauty  or  originality.  She 
was  always  quiet  but  generally  carried  her  point. 

The  building  that  she  has  planned  is  two  hundred  by 
four  hundred  feet,  and  in  the  severe  but  elegant  style 
of  the  Italian  renaissance.  It  went  up  with  marvel- 
ous rapidity,  and  was  finished  far  in  advance  of  any 
other  structure  on  the  grounds.  The  frame-work  is 
covered  with  staff,  a  kind  of  composition,  which  hard- 
ens to  almost  the  consistency  of  granite,  and  which 
readily  receives  any  beautiful  tint.  It  has  been  colored 
a  rich  old  ivory,  to  harmonize  with  the  prevailing 
tone  of  the  surrounding  structures.  A  series  of  open 
colonnades,  supporting  balconies,  surrounds  the  building, 
and    from   the    stone-carved    balustrades   depend    trailing 


66 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


vines  from  baskets  of  flowers  placed 
at  short  intervals.  Above  the  second 
story,  great  stone  caryatides  support 
the  roof  garden. 
HE  clay  models  for  these  figures  were  designed 
and  molded  by  Miss  Enid  Yandell,  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  who  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two  has 
much  reputation  as  a  sculptor.  This  roof  garden 
is  one  of  the  most  charming  places  imaginable, 
with  its  high,  arching  palms,  and  the  various  ferns 
and  flora  that  have  been  contributed  through  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  all  over  the  coun- 
try. The  pediment  over  the  wide  entrance  and  the 
beautiful  groups  on  the  cornices  of  the  building  are  the 
work  of  Miss  Alice  Rideout,  of  San  Francisco,  who  re- 
ceived the  prize  in  the  competition.  She  is  a  very  attrac- 
tive young  girl,  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  with  blonde 
hair  and  a  sweet,  open  face. 

Of  the  interior  of  the  building  I  shall  say  but  little,  as 
it  is  too  large  a  subject,  but  its  high-arched,  central  hall, 
called  the  Gallery  of  Honor,  with  its  beautiful  works  of 
art,  all  executed  by  women;  its  library,  its  model  hos- 
pital and  sanitary  kitchen  will  all  combine  to  make  it  a 
source  of  comfort  to  every  woman  visiting  the  Exposition, 
as  it  will  undoubtedly  be  a  pride  and  joy  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  that  created  it. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Sunday-school  children 
all  over  the  country  donate  banners  to  the  Woman's  Build- 
ing. These  could  bear  the  name  of  the  class,  and  be  of  all 
shapes  and  colors;  and  it  would  be  delightful  to  name  a 
day  which  should  be  called  Children's  Day,  when  all  the 
little  folks  could  come  in  a  procession  and  plant  their  ban- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


67 


ners  around  the  balcony  in  the  Gallery  of  Honor,  where 
they  would  float  as  proudly  as  those  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Bath  in  Westminister  Abbey,  or  the  signals  of  Napoleon's 
triumphs  in  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  at  Paris. 

Many  offers  have  already  been  made  for  the  decoration 
of  the  Woman's  Building,  Mrs.  Houghton,  of  Washington, 
being  the  pioneer  in  this 
direction,  by  the  pre- 
sentation of  a  beautiful 
pair  of  marble  columns 
from  the  women  of  her 
State.  Since  then  the 
various  members  have 
offered  the  products  of 
their  States  and  Terri- 
tories in  the  form  of 
carved  light  wood  panels 
for  the  drawing-rooms, 
balustrades  for  the 
grand  staircases,  ham- 
mered brass,  slabs  of 
onyx  and  black  marble, 
tapestries  and  hangings, 
granite  steps,  and  last, 
but  not  least,  the  famous 
nail  of  copper,  silver  and 

gold  from  Montana,  which  is  to  complete  the  building,  and 
to  be  driven  by  the  President  of  the  Board.  Nebraska  has 
volunteered  to  send  the  hammer  to  drive  the  nail.  Idaho, 
the  block  into  which  it  is  to  be  driven,  and  Colorado,  the 
jewel-case  which  is  to  contain  it,   and  which   is  to  be  aa 

act  copy  in  miniature  of  the  mineral  palace  of  Pueblo. 


GROUP   ON   WOMANS'    BUILDING. 


68 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


■■  '**' 


Fretwork  reading-desks,  rich  windows  of  stained  glass, 
Navajo  blankets  for  portieres,  petrified  wood  panels,  cactus- 
wood  screens,  and  numberless  other  articles  have  been 
offered  from  various  sources. 

Florida  has  promised  a  standard  for  electricity,  to  be 
made  of  polished  pink  marble.     It  is  to  represent  a  palmetto 

tree,  with  the 
lights  shining 
through  the 
tufted  leaves 
that  crown  the 
smooth  trunk, 
and  was  de- 
signed by  a 
young  girl  of 
eighteen  years. 
A  wrought- 
iron  drinking- 
fountain  has 
been  offered 
by  Northern 
Michigan,  and 
the  women  of 
Buena  Vista, 
Colorado, have 
also  volun- 
teered to  fur- 
nish one  for  the  roof-garden.  The  design  for  this 
fountain  is  very  unique  and  represents  a  beautiful  peak 
overlooking  the  smiling  valley  of  Buena  Vista.  Down  the 
slope  of  the  hill  a  bear  is  seen  approaching  a  spring  where 
a  flood  of  crystal  water  gushes  forth  into  a  pool  and  forms 


< 


CHILDREN  S    DAY. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  69 

the  basin  of  the  fountain.  The  figures  of  this  remarkable 
design  are  to  be  carved  from  solid  red  sandstone.  The 
women  of  Denver  have  planned  to  place  a  beautiful  pavil- 
ion in  the  Woman's  Building,  which  shall  display  women 
cutting,  polishing  and  setting  gems,  and  will  give  the 
public  a  glimpse  of  an  entirely  new  industry. 

One  member  has  suggested,  that  she  may  send  an  exact 
copy  of  the  beautiful  piece  of  needle-work  on  which  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  was  engaged  at  the  time  of  her  execution, 
the  needle  sticking  just  as  it  was  left  by  the  ill-fated 
queen,  and  many  other  historic  relics  have  been  promised. 

The  women  of  California  were  the  first  to  ask  to  furnish 
an  entire  room  in  the  Woman's  Building,  and  their  plans 
have  already  assumed  definite  shape.  The  floor  and  ceiling 
of  this  large  apartment  are  to  be  of  laurel,  inlaid  with 
the  various  woods  from  California,  while  the  walls  are  all 
solid  redwood,  relieved  by  occasional  panels  of  canvas 
painted  by  the  best  women  artists  in  the  State.  The  subject 
for  the  mural  decorations  will  be  the  cactus,  which  will  be 
used  in  every  possible  way.  Wreaths  of  this  blossom,  as 
delicate  and  varied  as  the  orchid,  are  to  be  ground  in  the 
natural  colors  into  the  opalescent  glass  of  the  windows. 
All  the  hangings  and  draperies  will  be  in  the  cactus  color- 
ings, the  groundwork  being  the  dull,  gray  green  of  the 
foliage,  which  contrasts  beautifully  with  the  shaded  tints 
of  the  blossoms.  Great  vases  of  this  plant,  in  full  bloom, 
will  be  scattered  throughout  the  room.  The  women  of 
New  York  wdl  probably  decorate  and  furnish  the  library, 
and  this  will  be  done  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Candace 
Wheeler,  whose  beautiful  tapestries  and  art  fabrics  are  so 
well  known.  The  women  of  West  Virginia  have  also  under- 
taken to  furnish  and  decorate  a  room,  and  the  women  of 
Kansas  City  have  made  the  same  offer. 


70  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

The  women  of  Cincinnati  will  furnish  and  decorate  two 
rooms,  and  when  one  remembers  the  artistic  reputation 
that  city  bears,  with  its  beautiful  glazed  Rookwood  pot- 
tery, its  noted  wood  carvings,  its  terra  cottas  and  its  paint- 
ings, wonderful  results  are  expected. 

The  exhibit  in  the  Woman's  Building  is  not  supposed  to 
be  of  a  general  character,  for  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  work  that  women  have  done  is  scattered  through  all 
the  buildings  according  to  the  classification,  being  entered 
in  the  various  competitions  with  that  of  men.  The  exhibit 
in  the  Woman's  Building  is  simply  an  object  lesson  of  the 
very  finest  work  done  by  the  women  of  all  countries,  and 
designed  to  show  the  progress  they  have  made  since  liberty 
and  education  have  been  granted  them.  Hundreds  of 
applications  have  been  received  for  space  in  the  Woman's 
Building.  Queen  Margherita,  of  Italy,  has  offered  her 
priceless  collection  of  laces,  and  there  will  also  be  a  dis- 
play from  Russia,  Austria,  Ireland,  and  even  far-away 
Africa,  of  exquisite  embroideries  and  laces. 

Lady  Aberdeen  has  asked  for  space,  and  wishes  to  dis- 
play the  wax  figures  of  a  bride  and  all  her  maids  clothed 
in  exquisite  Irish  point  lace.  A  complete  household  equip- 
ment of  Irish  linen  will  also  be  shown.  Messrs.  Marshall 
Field  &  Co.  have  already  bought  the  bride's  dress  and  will 
exhibit  it  after  the  Exposition  has  closed.  Hayward's,  the 
best  known  lace-house  in  London,  has  asked  to  show  a 
historical  collection  of  rare  old  laces,  and  the  Princess 
Narischkine  desires  to  send  from  Russia  an  exhibit  of  the 
laces  and  the  silver  embroidered  costumes  made  by  the 
peasants  on  her  vast  estate.  But  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
enumerate  the  many  interesting  objects  that  have  been 
offered  in  various  lines. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  71 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers  wished  to  emphasize  par- 
ticularly the  progress  of  women  in  a  business  and  profes- 
sional way,  and  in  this  connection  will  show  the  finest  work 
they  have  done  in  the  various  lines,  such  as  illustrating, 
wood-engraving,  painting,  sculpture,  wood-carving,  design- 
ing for  wall  paper,  carpets,  fabrics,  etc.,  as  well  as  a 
complete  showing  of  journalistic  and  literary  work. 

The  Board  also  intends  to  make  a  fine  archaeological  ex- 
hibit which  will  show  woman  as  the  inventor  of  the  indus- 
trial arts  and  the  first  maker  of  the  home.  The  officers  in 
charge  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington  have 
kindly  volunteered  to  lend  to  the  Woman's  Building  such 
objects  as  may  be  desired,  and  this  valuable  collection  will 
be  supplemented  by  others  taken  from  museums  and  pri- 
vate collections  both  in  this  country  and  Europe.  The  re- 
cent discoveries  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  will  be  rep- 
resented in  this  display,  and  considerable  space  will  be 
given  to  the  valuable  collection  recently  made  by  Mrs. 
French-Sheldon,  who  followed  Stanley's  footsteps  far  into 
the  interior  of  Africa.  Mrs.  French-Sheldon  proposes  to 
exhibit  not  only  her  curios,  but  the  caravan  in  which  she 
traveled.  It  may  be  remembered  that  she  was  the  first 
woman  to  penetrate  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  that  she 
always  received  the  chiefs  in  a  white  silk  ball  gown  with 
long  train  instead  of  rough  traveling  costume,  and  they 
bowed  down  to  her  like  a  queen  and  yielded  up  their 
choicest  treasures;  while  the  women  and  children,  instead 
of  running  away  in  fright,  came  for  miles  to  touch  her  hand. 
Many  applications  have  been  received  from  prominent 
associations  of  women  physicians  and  dentists,  as  well  as 
numerous  organizations  of  all  kinds.  The  library  will  con- 
tain the  best  books  written  by  the  women  of  all  countries; 


72  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

and,  if  possible,  the  manuscripts  of  famous  books  with  the 
original  illustrations  will  be  displayed.  Authentic  pictures 
of  women  renowned  in  history  and  literature  will  be  fur- 
nished by  the  foreign  committees  to  adorn  this  room. 

The  plans  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  have  so 
widened  since  the  first  meeting  at  Kinsley's  and  so  many 
new  vistas  have  opened,  that  it  is  impossible  here  to  de- 
scribe the  work  in  detail  or  predict  where  it  will  end.  The 
Dormitory  Association  has  planned  to  establish  four  dor- 
mitories which  will  take  care  of  five  thousand  industrial 
women  each  night  at  a  maximum  cost  to  the  individual  of 
forty  cents.  This  work  is  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  who  superintended  the  great  W. 
C.  T.  U.  Temple  at  Chicago,  and  who  is  a  member  of  the 
Board.  The  secretary  is  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Barker,  who  has 
also  undertaken  the  preparation  of  an  encyclopaedia  of 
women's  organizations  which  shall  represent  every  branch 
of  organized  work  in  which  women  have  engaged. 

A  delightful  plan  has  been  projected  for  a  Children's 
Palace,  which  is  to  provide  a  safe  place  where  chil- 
dren can  be  left  while  their  mothers  visit  the  various 
departments  of  the  Exposition.  The  building,  which 
is  to  be  a  dainty  and  beautiful  blue  and  white  struct- 
ure, will  contain  everything  which  can  conduce  to  the  com- 
fort and  pleasure  of  childhood,  including  lecture-rooms  and 
kindergartens  for  the  older  children,  nurseries  with  sanitary 
food  and  trained  attendants  for  the  babies,  and  toys  for  all. 

The  fiat  roof,  with  its  high  stone  balustrade,  covered  at  a 
height  of  fifteen  feet,  with  a  strong  wire  netting,  will  form  an 
ideal  play-ground.  Within  this  charming  enclosure,  which 
will  be  .bordered  by  vines  and  flowers,  birds  and  butterflies 
will  flit  among  the  children  at  will,  the  wire  covering  ren- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  73 

dering  cages  unnecessary.  An  awning  will  protect  from 
sun  and  rain.  Mrs.  George  L.  Dunlap  is  chairman  of  the 
committee  in  charge  of  this  work,  and  has  been  doing  val- 
iant service  in  raising  the  necessary  funds,  for  the  Chil- 
dren's Building  and  the  Dormitory  have  both  been  paid  for 
outside  of  the  appropriation  given  to  the  Board. 

Any  child  or  club  of  children  sending  one  dollar  to  the 
Children's  Home  will  receive  a  printed  certificate  of  ac- 
knowledgment, bearing  the  official  seal  of  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers. 

All  these  buildings  will  be  monuments  to  the  progress 
women  have  made  during  the  nineteenth  century,  but  I  feel 
that  the  greatest  object  accomplished  by  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  will  be  the  showing  of  the  work  done  by 
the  industrial  women  in  this  and  all  other  countries.  The 
object  lesson  it  will  teach  to  the  nations  of  the  world  cannot 
soon  be  forgotten,  and  perhaps  these  long  silent  sisters  will 
at  last  have  an  opportunity  for  the  pay  and  the  freedom 
that  should  be  accorded  them  as  equal  laborers  in  the 
world's  great  workshop. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


MR.    PERKINS. 


^..J '.'I 'P=^=25===c_  I  ^HE  morning  was 
^g:  X  bright  and  sunny. 
^  G  e  n  e  had  been  to 
Ku_  church  and  had  walked 
on  the  Lake-Shore 
Drive  afterward  with 
Mr.  Middleton,  who 
came  in  with  her  when 
they  reached  the  flat. 
She  had  brought  home 
the  little  printed  circu- 
lar containing  the  morning's  hymns,  and  on  entering  sat  down 
at  the  piano,  without  removing  her  wraps,  and  commenced, 
softly,  to  play  them  over.  Mr.  Middleton  stood  looking  down 
at  her — we  all  think  he  is  very  fond  of  Gene — and  how  was 
it  that  the  music  drifted  to  the  nightingale's  song,  and  that 
Gene,  who  is  always  so  good,  forgot  that  it  was  Sunday  and 
commenced  to  sing,  in  her  sweet  voice,  "  Ah,  no,  I  cannot 
forget  you?"  Suddenly,  she  became  conscious  of  a  for- 
eign presence  in  the  room,  and  turned  her  head,  when,  to 
her  surprise,  her  glance  fell  upon  a  stranger.  It  was  rather 
an  embarrassing  moment,  and  as  she  rose  with  a  flush  on 
her  face,  the  stranger  stepped  toward  them  and  said,  in- 
quiringly, "  Mr.  Perkins  ?  "  Gene  answered  at  once,  "  I 
fear  you  have  made  a  mistake,  which  is  a  very  common  thing 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


75 


with  so  many  apartments  in  one  building.  Mr.  Perkins 
does  not  live  here."  "Oh  no,"  the  young  man  answered, 
with  perfect  self-possession,  "/  am  Mr.  Perkins,  and  I  have 
come  to  see  Miss  Wendell."  "Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon," 
cried  Gene,  blushing.  "  She  is  not  in  the  city.  She  went 
to  spend  Sunday  in  Evanston."     "I  know  it,"   replied  the 


young  man,  "  but  I  have  an  appointment  to  meet  her  at  a 
quarter  after  one,  as  I  am  going  with  her  to  dinner  at  her 
cousin,  Mrs.  Dickey's."  It  was  then  almost  the  moment 
mentioned,  so  he  sat  down  to  wait,  while  Marjorie  came  in 
from  Sunday  School  and  joined  them. 

Mr.  Perkins  proved  to  be  a  very  amusing  and  interesting 
young  man,  with  light,  curly  hair,  a  frank,  open  face,  and  a 
manner  that  was  at  once  deferential  and  yet  showed  a  de- 
sire to  please.     He  told  them  that  he  had  lived  in  Wash- 


76  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

ington,  and  gave  them  many  stories  of  Western  life,  so 
that  the  time  slipped  by  with  great  rapidity,  and  Katie  had 
announced  the  two-o'clock  dinner,  before  anyone  noticed 
that  the  Duke  had  not  arrived.  "Won't  you  come  to 
dinner  with  us  ?"  asked  Virginia.  "  There  is  surely  some 
mistake,  and  as  you  are  a  stranger  in  Chicago  it  would 
be  very  awkward  for  you  to  dine  alone,  down  town,  at  a 
hotel.  "  He  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  said:  "  I  won- 
der if  you  would  ever  forgive  me  if  I  did  do  such  an  un- 
conventional thing?  The  truth  is  that  I  should  like  im- 
mensely to  stay."  And  so  the  matter  was  settled  without 
more  ado. 

They  were  at  dinner  when  a  ring  came  at  the  door,  and 
Katie  said  that  someone  wished  to  speak  to  Miss  Fairfax. 
Gene  left  the  room  and  returned  in  a  moment,  dimpling 
with  laughter,  to  say  that  it  was  a  young  man  whom 
she  had  never  before  met,  who  asked  for  her,  as  he  was  so 
much  surprised  to  find  that  Miss  Wendell  was  not  in,  as  he 
had  an  engagement  to  go  to  dinner  with  her  at  her  cousin, 
Mrs.  Dickey's.  Mr.  Perkins  was  very  much  amused  and 
the  dinner  progressed  with  great  jollity,  as  he  and  Mr. 
Middleton,  who  found  that  they  belonged  to  the  same  Col- 
lege fraternity,  vied  with  each  other  in  telling  stories  and 
anecdotes. 

The  dessert  was  on  the  table,  when  Katie  was  called 
away  by  another  ring  at  the  door,  and  returned  in  a 
few  moments  with  her  good  Irish  face  settled  into  a  grin 
that  stretched  from  ear  to  ear,  as  she  said  that  it  was  some 
young  gentleman  who  wouldn't  leave  his  name,  but  who 
seemed  very  much  surprised  to  learn  that  Miss  Wendell  was 
not  in,  as  he  had  an  engagement  to  go  with  her  to  dinner 
at  her  cousin,  Mrs.  Dickey's. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


77 


At  this  we  all  shouted,  until  the  old  maid  who  always 
sits  in  the  bathroom  in  the  top  flat,  to  tell  the  gossip  that 
she  hears  floating  up  through  the  shaft,  must  have  had 
something  to  repay  her  for  her  long  vigil. 

It  was  seven  o'clock  at  night  when  the  Duke  came  in,  a 
disconsolate  wretch — for  the  face  of  that  little  hypocrite, 
which  is  the  merriest  in  the  world  when  she  laughs,  can  be 
drawn  down  to  such  an  expression  of  melancholy  that  the 
hardest-hearted  person  in  the  world  could  not  help  for- 
giving her  sins.  I  never  could  remember  just  what  explan- 
ation she  made,  but  as  it  was  perfectly  satisfactory  to  Mrs. 
Dickey  and  to  the  young  men,  including  Mr.  Perkins,  who 
soon  called  again,  it  does  not  make  much  difference. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

gene's  burglar. 

MUST  write  down  my  horrible  experience  of  Friday 
night,  now  that  I  am  able  to  sit  up  and  think  coherently. 

§It  was  very  late  when  Marjorie  and  I  started  home. 
I  The  car  was  crowded,  as  usual  at  that  time  in  the 
evening,  there  being  more  men  than  women.  We  sandwiched 
ourselves  into  a  small  space,  given  us  by  a  polite  man,  and 
I  clutched  my  pocket  in  which — foolish  girl  that  I  was — I 
had  three  hundred  dollars.  This  money  had  been  received 
that  day  from  the  sale  of  some  land,  which  had  been  for  a 
long  time  in  the  family,  and  I  had  cashed  the  check  in  the 
afternoon,  thinking  I  would  pay  a  few  bills  on  my  way 
down  town  in  the  morning.  I  whispered  to  Marjorie  to 
pay  our  fare,  as  I  didn't  care  to  take  out  my  purse.  "  Oh, 
did  you  get  the  money,  Virginia  ?"  "Yes,"  I  assented,  un- 
der my  breath.  "  What  a  lucky  girl  !  You  will  surely 
have  to  treat  the  flat."  "Be  careful,  Marjorie!"  and  as  I 
cautioned  her  to  speak  more  softly,  I  caught  the  expression 
of  a  man's  face  just  across  from  us.  He  was  a  coarse- 
looking  man  and  wore  a  slouch  hat  pulled  down  over  his 
face.  He  gave  Marjorie  a  quick,  piercing  look,  and  I  saw 
an  ugly,  red-looking  scar  over  his  left  eye,  while  his  thick 
lips  were  only  half-hidden  under  his  black  whiskers.  Al- 
together he  was  what  a  man  out  West  would  call  an  "ugly 
customer."  He  paid  no  further  attention  to  us,  and  in  talk- 
ing of  other  things  I  had  forgotten  him  entirely  until  we 
got  out  of  the  car  at  Chicago  avenue,  when,  to  our  dismay, 

78 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


79 


he  got  off  too,  and  sauntered  along  leisurely  behind 
us  with  his  hat  very  far  down  over  his  eyes.  We  ran  all 
the  way  down  the  block,  and  I  was  glad,  indeed,  to  get  into 
the  house. 

I    felt    a    little    uncomfortable     even    after    reaching 
the  warmth   and   light   of   our    own    little   flat,  and  some- 


1  WAS  THAT   TALL,   BLACK  THING  OUTLINED  ON  THE   CURTAIN  THE   PIANO  LAMP?' 

thing  impelled  me  to  go  to  the  window.  I  pulled  back  the 
curtain  and  looked  out,  and  there,  under  the  lamp  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street,  stood  the  man  looking  up  at  me! 
My  feelings  were  anything  but  agreeable  after  that,  but 
the  other  girls  reassured  me — telling  of  the  night-watchman, 
of  how  many  men  there  were  in  the  same  building  to  be 
summoned  at  a  moment's  notice,  etc.,  etc.  Somewhat  paci- 
fied I  went  in  to  dinner,  and  afterwards  we  spent  a  merry 
evening  with  a  number  of  friends,  and  I  forgot  all  about 


So  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

the  man.  Before  I  retired  I  took  the  money  and  pinned  it 
into  the  crown  of  an  old  hat,  underneath  the  lining,  and 
hung  the  hat  up  in  the  closet,  as  that  was  always  my  own 
private  safe-deposit  vault. 

Dismissing  all  thoughts  of  fear  I  opened  the  window 
for  some  fresh  air  and  retired.  I  can't  tell  how  long  I 
had  slept  when  I  was  suddenly  awakened  by  a  strange 
noise,  and  all  my  faculties  became  keenly  alive. 
Through  the  folding-doors  I  saw  the  moonlight  streaming 
in  at  the  parlor  windows,  and  the  curtain  swaying  gently 
backward  and  forward.  Was  that  tall,  black  thing  outlined 
on  the  curtain  the  piano  lamp?  I  strained  my  eyes  to 
see,  not  daring  to  move.  As  I  gazed,  the  black  object 
moved  across  the  room,  and  a  silent  match  flashed  a  light 
upon  the  face  of  the  wretched  man  whom  we  had  seen 
on  the  car.  Yes,  there  was  no  use  in  trying  to  disbelieve 
it;  there  was  the  slouch  hat,  the  scar  and  the  ugly,  thick 
lips.  In  the  instant  that  the  match  flashed  I  saw  that  he 
had  a  second  man  with  him.  They  had  climbed  up  to  the 
balcony  and  come  in  by  the  window  that  I  had  left  open. 
I  knew  that  the  Duke  kept  both  the  doors  to  her  room 
closed  and  locked,  and  I  wished  with  all  my  heart  for 
the  much  despised  pistol.  Marjorie  slept  in  the  room 
at  the  end  of  the  hall,  out  of  hearing,  and  I  was  alone 
with  those  two  horrible  robbers  who  knew  that  I  had  three 
hundred  dollars  in  my  possession  !  All  these  things  flashed 
through  my  mind;  I  grew  rigid  with  fear.  I  opened  my 
mouth  and  tried  to  call  the  Duke,  for  I  knew  that  she  was 
the  nearest,  but  I  could  not  make  a  sound.  By  this  time  the 
leader  of  the  two  men  had  lit  a  bull's-eye  lantern,  and  as 
he  flashed  the  light  around  the  parlor,  he  caught  sight  of 
my  bed  in  the  back  room.  "  Here,  Bill,  don't  make  a  noise. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


This  is  the  one  that  had  the  cash,"  and  threw  the  light  full 
on  my  face,  which  must  have  been  as  pale  as  death.  It 
took  all  my  strength  of  mind  not  to  move  an  eyelid,  and 
the  second  the  light  rested  on  me  seemed  an  eternity. 
They  finally  turned  their  attention  to  the  bureau,  and  be- 
gan picking  up  the  few  articles  of  jewelry  that  I  had  left 
there.  The  next  thing  they  did  was  to  rummage  in  the 
bureau  drawers,  and  as  their  backs  were  turned  to  me  I  felt 
this  was  the  critical  moment,  and  now  or  never  I  must  act. 
Not  far  from  the  head  of  my  bed  was  a  large  closet  which 
opened  into  Marjorie's  room.  The  door  leading  into  her 
room  from  the  closet  was  closed,  I  knew,  but  the  one  lead- 
ing into  my  room  had  been  removed  and  a  portiere  hung 
over  the  opening.  If  I  could  get  into  the  closet  without 
their  seeing  me,  I  could  open  the  door  and  rush  into  Marjo- 
rie's room,  and  there,  at  least,  we  two  could  fight  together.  I 
climbed  out  of  bed  expecting  every  moment  to  see  them 
turn,  as  they  were  muttering  to  themselves  over  not  finding 
the  money.  How  I  managed  it  without  making  some 
slight  noise  I  never  knew  ;  but  there  I  was  on  the  floor,  at 
last,  creeping  along  by  the  wall  to  the  curtain.  How  far  it 
seemed! — and  how  cold  I  was  with  fear!  But  I  knew  my  one 
chance  of  escape  was  to  get  into  that  other  room.  With  a 
noiseless  wave  of  the  curtain  I  found  myself  in  the  closet, 
and  sent  up  a  prayer  of  thankfulness.  I  could  hear  the 
men  opening  the  boxes  in  my  bureau,  and  their  comments 
on  the  things  they  wished  to  take.  I  straightened  myself 
up,  took  one  long  stride  to  the  closet  door — I  turned  the 
handle,  it  creaked  audibly;  it  seemed  to  stick — great  heav- 
ens, it  was  locked  !  There  was  a  commotion  in  the  next 
room  ;  the  lantern  was  flashed  on  my  bed.  "She's  got  out 
and  gone,  Bill,  quick,  behind  that  curtain!  "     They  jerked 


82  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

back  the  curtain,  the  lantern  flashed  on  me,  I  saw  the  man 
with  the  scar  point  his  pistol  at  me  and  then  I  knew  no 
more,  for  I  fell  head   first  against  the  door. 

The  next  I  knew  I  found  myself  on  the  bed  with  the  two 
girls  hanging  over  me,  Marjorie  with  a  pale  face  and  the 
cologne  bottle,  while  the  Duke,  with  a  determined  look,  was 
clutching  her  pistol  with  her  right  hand.  Marjorie  said 
she  was  awakened  by  a  piercing  shriek  which  I  suppose  I 
uttered,  and  a  heavy  fall  against  her  closet  door.  When  she 
opened  the  door  I  was  lying  there  unconscious,  and  the 
figure  of  a  man  was  just  disappearing  out  of  the  front 
parlor  window. 


&  ¥  x 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


SUNDAY    MORNING. 


T  was  a  lovely  morning;  the  sun  touched  the  wind- 
ruffled  waters  of  the  lake  into  myriads  of  flashing  dia- 
monds. The  air  was  warm  and  odorous,  and  the  rose 
geraniums  in  the  window-boxes  were  spicy  and  fresh 
with  the  morning  dew.  The  few  passers-by  walked 
slowly  along  the  streets  talking  quietly  to  each  other, 
filled  with  reverence  for  the  Sabbath  stillness.  The 
mellow  bells  chimed  the  hour  of  nine  in  the  great  tower  of 
the  Cathedral  on  the  corner,  but  in  the  little  flat  on  Cass 
street  all  was  still.  Virginia  was  the  first  to  wake.  ''Come, 
you  lazy  girls,"  she  called,  "it  is  after  nine  o'clock  and 
Katie  says  that  breakfast  is  nearly  dried  up  with  waiting." 
Slowly  came  the  sounds  of  life  from  the  different  rooms, 
and  soon  three  girls,  with  cheeks  all  pink  from  recent  sleep, 
sat  about  the  little  round  table  in  the  dining-room. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  to-day?"  asked   Marjorie. 

83 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


"  I'm  going  to  church,  of  course,"  said  Virginia,  with  a  sweet 
look  of  dignity,  "  and  you,  Duke?"  The  great  black 
eyes  were  full  of  mischief  as  she  answered,  "  I  am  going  to 
take  a  Turkish  bath,  and  I  want  you  girls  to  go  with  me. 
Now  don't  look  so  shocked  Gene,  for  I  am  really  serious 
about  it.  I'm  going  to  listen  to  a  sermon  on  the  text, 
'Cleanliness  is  next  to  Godliness,'  and  I  want  you  to  come 
too.  It  is  ridiculous  for  girls  who  have  to  work  all  the  week 
to  try  and  keep  up  with  their  duties  every  single  Sunday. 
We  always  go  to  church,  why  shouldn't  we  miss  just  one 
morning?"  "  But  it  doesn't  seem  respectable,  does  it," 
asked  Marjorie,  already  half  won  over.  "No,  it  don't  seem 
so;  that  is  just  the  point,  but  it  really  is.  There  won't  be  a 
soul  down  there,  probably,  and  I  really  think  it  is  a  heap 
better  than  staying  home  all  day  in  a  wrapper  and  reading 
novels  the  way  so  many  good  church  members  do." 

Here  a  ring  at  the  door  interrupted  them,  and  Katie  in 
her  clean  Sunday  cap  entered  and  smilingly  announced  Mr. 
Middleton.  "Ask  him  in  here,  Katie,"  cried  Marjorie, 
while  Gene's  cheeks  took  on  a  deeper  touch  of  pink,  though 
she  made  no  comment.  In  came  Mr.  Middleton  with  three 
great  bunches  of  flowers;  sweet  peas  for  the  Duke,  violets 
for  Marjorie,  and  a  bunch  of  purple,  pansies  for  Gene. 
"  Won't  you  have  some  breakfast  ?"  asked  the  Duke.  "  No, 
thank  you.  I  would  like  to,  but  I  can't  stay.  We  have 
some  relatives  here  from  the  East  who  are  just  returning 
from  a  trip  to  Alaska,  and  I  have  promised  father  to  take 
them  to  church." 

After  he  left  the  talk  drifted  to  other  subjects,  and  little 
more  was  said  about  the  bath,  but  a  half  hour  later  when 
the  Duke  came  into  Marjorie's  room  to  borrow  a  black  pin, 
she  found  her  carefully  rolling  up  Gene's  tailor-made  jacket 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  85 

within  her  own.  "  What  in  the  world  are  you  doing,"  cried 
the  Duke.  "  Virginia  said  she  wasn't  going  with  us."  "  Oh, 
but  she  will,  I  am  sure,  and  I  am  taking  her  coat,  as  she 
has  a  little  cold.  We  will  need  our  wraps  even  if  it  is  such 
a  warm  day." 

The  girls  walked  down  Cass  street  towards  the  city, 
when  Marjorie  happened  to  notice  something  in  Virginia's 
hand.  "  What  have  you  got  in  that  little  package,  Gene?" 
she  asked  curiously.  Virginia  made  no  answer  and  looked 
a  little  confused,  but  did  not  resist  when  the  Duke  took  it 
from  her  hand,  and  opening  one  end  looked  in.  A  comb 
and  a  curling-iron  met  her  astonished  gaze,  and  as  she 
showed  it  to  Marjorie,  they  both  exclaimed  with  disgust, 
"Why,  you  meant  to  go  all  the  time." 


My  Dear  Will: 

I  must  write  you  my  usual  Sunday  letter,  but  I  am  really 
ashamed  to  tell  you  what  we  have  been  doing  to-day.  In 
the  first  place  it  was  all  that  mad-cap  Duke.  You  know 
how  fond  we  are  of  her,  and  how  persuasive  she  is.  Well, 
she  took  it  into  her  head  to  take  a  Turkish  bath  this  morn- 
ing, and  nothing  would  satisfy  her  but  to  have  us  go  with 
her.  It  is  always  easy  enough  for  me  to  yield,  but  we  finally 
persuaded  Gene  too. 

State  street  is  not  a  pretty  or  picturesque  thoroughfare, 
as  you  know,  neither  is  it  awe-inspiring;  but  I  give  you  my 
word  I  felt  really  ashamed  of  the  cobble-stones  and  the 
closed  windows  as  we  walked  by  this  morning;  especially 
as  we  passed  Central  Music  Hall  where  the  late-comers 
were  loitering  into  church.  When  we  reached  the  Palmer 
House  I  think  we  were  all  willing  and  ready    to  turn  back, 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


but  of  course  no  one  would  acknowledge  it.  The  Duke 
walked  boldly  up  and  tried  the  door  of  the  regular  entrance 
in  Madame  Louise's  millinery  store,  but  found  it  locked,  and 
we  pretended  to  be  glancing  at  the  hats  inside  while  she 
spoke  to  the  colored  porter  at  the  carriage  entrance,  asking 
him  if  the  Turkish  bath  was  open.     He  was  a  solemn-faced 


negro,  with  black  excrescences  on  his  face  and  neck,  like 
the  fungus  on  a  tree,  and  when  she  asked  him  that  ques- 
tion, he  rolled  up  his  eyes  until  you  could  see  nothing  but 
the  whites,  then  brought  them  to  a  cross-eyed  focus  on 
the  Duke's  nose,  while  he  said  solemnly,  in  guttural  tones: 
"No  mam,  they  ain't  no  Turkish  bath  open  on  Sunday, 
leastwise  none  that  I  eber  herd  tell  on,"  then  raising  his 
hands  to  heaven,  big  white  cotton  gloves  and  all,  "Six  days 


Three  Girls  t'n  a  Flat. 


87 


shalt  thou  labaw,  an  do  all  thou  hez  to  do,  for  in  six  days 
the  Lawd  made  heben,  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  are 
in  dem,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  and  hollowed,  therefore, 
chillun  ye  must  do  no  manner  of  work,  ye,  nor  your  neigh- 
baw,  nor  your  ox,  nor  anything  that  is  yourne."  The  Duke 
laughed  for  two  blocks,  but  I  honestly  think  that  we  all 
felt  guilty  at  the  old  darkey's  lecture. 

We  discussed  what  we  should  do 
next,  and  the  Duke  was  for  telephon- 
ing the  Grand  Pacific  to  see  if  we 
could  get  in  there,  but  we  had  no 
place  from  which  to  send  a  message 
except  a  drug  store,  and  none  of  us 
liked  to  ask  that  question  in  public. 
As  we  walked  back  on  State  street 
we  found  that  it  was  growing  very 
warm,  especially  as  we  had  to  carry 
our  wraps,  which  were  unnecessary 
in  the  bright  sunshine,  and  as  we 
passed  Central  Music  Hall,  Gene 
said  timidly:  "I  wonder  if  it  is  too 
late  to  hear  the  sermon  ?"  We  could 
hear  the  big  organ  pealing  forth 
within,  and  that  decided  the  Duke, 
who  is  passionately  fond  of  music, 
need  to  consider,  for  you  know  how  much  I  love  to  hear 
Professor  Swing's  lectures. 

So  we  went  in,  intending  to  sit  quietly  on  the  red  velvet 
sofa  by  the  stairs  in  the  back  of  the  church,  and  not  try  to 
find  a  seat.  You  remember  the  sofa,  I  know — the  refuge  in 
thought  of  all  the  people  who  come  in  late.  In  thought,  I 
say,  for  one  generally  enters  to  find  it  occupied.     So  it  was 


As  for  me,  I  did  not 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


with  us,  and  as  we  stood  there  a  moment  undecided,  a 
gentleman  with  gray  hair,  and  a  beautiful,  benevolent  face, 
came  up  and  asked  us  to  follow  him,  saying  he  had  three 
seats  for  us.  At  first  I  tried  to  protest,  as  I  was  in  advance; 
but  not  wishing  to  refuse  at  such  a  moment,  we  followed, 
to  be  shown  into  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  places  in  the 
house — Mrs.  Medill's  box.  After  the  rustle  of  our  entrance 
we  were  glad  to  subside,  and  presently  forgot  our  discom- 
fort in  the  opening  words  of  that  wonderful  sermon.  I  do 
not  need  to  tell  you  what  a  feast  it  was,  for  you  have  heard 
Prof.  Swing;  but  that  awkward,  and  to  a  stranger,  homely 
man,  seems  to  me  to  be  almost  inspired.     All  that  he  says 

appeals  to  the  reason,  the 
imagination  and  the 
heart.  His  allusions  show 
the  learning  of  a  scholar, 
and  yet  he  is  never  pe- 
dantic. His  standpoint  is 
that  of  a  philosopher,  and 
yet  he  is  tolerant  of  those 
of  us  of  lesser  stature, 
who  go  about  blinded  by 
the  glamour  or  the  follies 
of  our  century.  Gifted 
with  magnetic  power  that 
chains,  from  the  moment 
he  speaks,  the  entire  at- 
tention of  his  hearers,  he 
tells  us,  as  simply  as  a 
child,  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong.  His  creed 
is  to  raise  the  fallen,  to  help  the  suffering,  and  to  teach  to 
all  men  the  gentleness  and  charity  that  broaden  the  age. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  89 

But  I  always  enthuse  on  this  subject.  Gene,  as  you 
know,  is  a  stranger  here,  and  had  never  heard  him  preach; 
and  once,  when  I  happened  to  glance  at  her,  I  saw  that  she 
was  intensely  interested  in  every  word  that  he  said.  Her 
eyes  gleamed  in  excitement — you  remember  their  strange 
lapis-lazuli  tint — and  a  ray  of  sunlight  gilded  the  little 
tendrils  of  hair  about  her  neck  and  temples.  I  saw  several 
people  looking  at  her.  and  I  do  not  wonder;  for  she  is  a 
most  charming  creature  when  that  perfect  calm  is  stirred 
to  animation.  She  told  me  afterward  that  she  felt  as  if 
the  iron  had  entered  her  soul  when  she  thought  of  the  in- 
iquity she  had  planned  earlier  in  the  morning.  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  was  not  afflicted  with  remorse,  for  I  am  not  so 
good  as  Gene  by  nature;  but  I  could  understand  her  feel- 
ings, for  after  one  of  those  soul-touching  sermons,  the 
stereotyped  words  of  the  average  preacher  seem  as  flavor- 
less as  Dead  Sea  apples. 

The  iron  didn't  enter  the  Duke's  soul  just  then,  but  it 
did  a  few  minutes  later;  for  she  was  carrying  Gene's  little 
bundle,  and  so  far  forgot  herself  as  to  rise  abruptly  for  the 
benediction,  thereby  dropping  her  burden.  The  paper 
broke,  of  course,  and  in  the  solemn  stillness  the  little  curl- 
ing-iron hied  itself  merrily  down  several  steps  with  a  loud 
clinkety-clank,  and  stopped  with  its  handle 
tenderly  embracing  the  foot  of  the  benev- 
olent gentleman  to  whose  courtesy  we  were 
indebted  for  seats.  He  glared  at  it  with 
a  look  of  horror,  and  I  really  believe  that 
he  did  not  know  what  it  was,  or  where  it 
came  from,  though  if  he  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  turn,  I  am  sure  he  could  not 
have  doubted  the  tell-tale  aurora  that  en- 


9° 


Three   Girls  in  a  Flat. 


carnadined  the  face  under  a  certain  jonquil-trimmed  hat. 
At  any  fate  several  other  people  looked  back,  among  them 
three  ladies,  with  solemn  surprise  on  their  faces,  and  a 
young  man  whose  brown  eyes  opened  to  their  widest  in  a 
merry  laugh  on  seeing  us.  Need  I  say  that  it  was  Mr. 
Middleton? 

How  much  time  I  have  taken  in    telling  you   about  our 
morning's  adventures  !     But  it  always  seems  as  if  I   could 


^■'^V, 


really  talk  to  you  when  I  commence  to  write,  and  I  never 
know  when  to  stop.  Do  you  still  sail  every  day  in  the 
"  Trinket,"  as  we  did  last  summer  ?  Since  my  trip  abroad  this 
year  I  am  more  than  ever  impressed  with  the  loveliness  of 
our  own  "North  Countree."  Mullet  Lake,  in  its  way,  is  just 
as  beautiful  as  Lake  Como;  the  same  dreamy  blue  atmos- 
phere, the  same  wonderfully-reflected  sunsets;  only  Topin- 
abee  has  a  beauty  of  its  own,  a  wildness  and  magnificence 
of  forest  growth  that  we  do  not  appreciate  in  the  least,  but 
which  would  be  enthusiastically  admired  by  the  foreigners 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


9i 


could  they  see  it.  How  I  wish  I  could  be  there  for  just  one 
week!  I  can  see  you  now  as  you  started  out  in  the  morning, 
dressed  in  your  corduroys  and  with  bag  and  gun  over  your 
shoulder.  Would  you  still  be  glad,  I  wonder,  to  take  a 
companion  who  frightened  away  the  game  by  talking  and 
laughing?  And  would  you  still  lay  down  your  gun  to 
pluck  a  cluster  of  the  sweet  white  violets  if  we  happened  to 
find  them  ? 

Most  sincerely, 

Marjorie. 


&«a3^€«g£2^€^3^!€S^33S»Ke3e& 


K*^' 


1  OVRJIOLILW 


«»3»»CBK'3B«>KB5KaB«SeeaCgeBMS6BS^^ 


CHAPTER   IX. 

HE  unveiling  of  the  Grant  monument  in  Lincoln 
Park  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  flat 
as  well  as  in  that  of  Chicago,  for  we  had  a  holi- 
day, and  moreover  had  received  an  invitation  to 
go  to  Mrs.  Palmer's  in  the  afternoon  to  watch 
the  procession  from  her  balcony,  and  we  were 
all  in  a  consequent  high  state  of  satisfaction. 
We  had  finished  our  early  luncheon  and  commenced  to 
dress,  when  a  great  noise  of  opening  and  shutting  of  drawers 
was  heard  in  the  Duke's  room,  and  presently  that  young 
woman  stalked  forth  calling  in  stentorian  tones,  "Who  has 
seen  my  red  gown?"  Eliciting  no  reply  she  tried  each 
room  and  closet  but  without  success.  Now  the  red  gown 
was  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  flat,  for  it  was  a  real,  genu- 
ine, expensive,  tailor-made  garment  of  a  rich  shade  of 
crimson,  with  a  white  vest  heavily  braided  in  silver.  It 
also  had  a  coat  to  match,  with  large  buttons  and  high,  roll- 
ing collar.  And  then  there  was  a  beautiful  French  hat, 
wide-brimmed,  lined  with  crimson  velvet  and  surmounted 
by  masses  of  plumes. 

Now  the  Duke  does  not  usually  affect  Paris  millinery, 
for  she  cares  not  a  whit  for  dress,  and  is  generally  to  be 
found  in  skirt  and  coat  and  soft  felt  hat,  but   in  this  attire 

she  was  always  irresistible;  the  wide  hat  with  its  plumes 

92 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  93 

surmounting  her  black  coils,  giving,  as  Marjorie  said,  a 
Lord  Fauntleroy  effect,  so  we  felt  naturally  anxious.  We 
joined  in  the  search,  and  calling  Katie  ransacked  the  en- 
tire flat,  but  to  no  avail.  The  missing  garment  could  not 
be  produced. 

We  had  wasted  a  half-hour,  and  had  quite  given  up  the 
search  when  the  Duke  marched  back  to  her  room  in  disgust. 
As  she  brushed  by  a  table,  her  dress  caught  in  the  clay 
model  of  a  group  which  she  had  recently  made,  and  I 
noticed  a  grim  smile  of  satisfaction  on  her  face  as  the  head 
of  old  Father  Abraham  (who  had  been  her  special  pride) 
flew  far  across  the  room.  Marjorie  rushed  to  pick  him  up, 
but  the  Duke,  never  uttering  a  word,  crossed  to  her  ward- 
robe and  pulled  out,  with  the  air  of  a  martyr,  her  old  blue 
dress. 

It  was  growing  late,  so  we  hastened  to  our  rooms  once 
more,  when  a  familiar  rap  came  at  the  door  and  we  heard 
Mrs.  Brown's  voice,  saying:  "What,  Miss  Wendell,  you 
home  at  this  time  of  day?  Now  I  am  caught,  for  I  just 
slipped  in  this  morning  and  borrowed  your  tailor-made 
gown  to  copy  for  Ariadne,  and  I  never  meant  that  you 
should  know  I  had  it  until  you  saw  that  dear  child  looking 
like  your  counterpart,  for  I  borrowed  your  hat  and  coat 
last  week  and  copied  them  exactly." 

I  do  not  think  it  would  be  wise  to  mention  in  polite 
society  the  remarks  we  heard  in  the  Duke's  room  after 
Mrs.  Brown  had  departed. 

In  a  few  minutes  we  were  ready  and  hurrying  with 
throngs  of  other  people  up  the  Lake-Shore  Drive.  The 
houses  were  gay  with  flags  and  bunting,  and  popcorn  and 
peanut  stands  lined  the  street,  so  the  scene  was  an  ani- 
mated one  at  every  point.     As  we  turned   a  corner  in  the 


94 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


drive  which  brought  us  in  view  of  Mrs.  Palmer's  house,  we 
all  uttered  an  exclamation  of  delight,  for  the  irregular  roof 
line,  with  its  battlemented  turrets,  outlined  against  the 
blue  sky,  gave  the  appearance  of  an  old  feudal  castle.  A 
great  silken  flag  shook  out  its  folds  in  the  breeze  that  came 
from  the  lake,  and  over  the  porte-cochere  a  gaily  striped 
awning  had  been  placed,  making  a  pavilion  from  which 
the  procession  could  be  watched.     As  we  entered  the  large 


double  glass  door,  Mrs  Palmer  came  toward  us,  welcoming 
her  guests  in  the  high,  vaulted  hall.  Marjorie  and  I  saw 
friends  in  the  library  and  went  to  meet  them,  leaving  the 
Duke  alone  for  a  moment.  What  followed  can  best  be  told 
in  her  own  language,  as  she  related  the  incident  to  us  that 
night  at  the  dinner-table. 

"  I  was  crossing  the  hall  when   Mrs.  Palmer,  taking  my 
hand,  said:  '  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  Mrs.  Grant,'  and  as 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  95 


she  turned  toward  us,  '  let  me  present  to  you  Miss  Wendell, 
the  young  sculptor  ;  she  is  at  work  on  the  Woman's  Build- 
ing and  we  are  very  proud  of  her  and  think  we  have  con- 
ferred on  her  an  honor.'  'A  sculptor!  You  cut  marble?' 
I  assented.  '  I  met  one  before,'  she  said,  describing 
Vinnie  Ream.  '  She  was  a  great  deal  about  the  General, 
but  I  don't  approve  of  women  sculptors  as  a  rule.'  Just 
then  we  were  separated  and  I  departed  for  the  balcony  to 
see  the  parade.  A  few  minutes  later,  as  I  pushed  back  the 
black  satin  curtain,  with  its  heavy  gold  dragons,  and 
entered  the  Japanese  room,  I  saw  Mrs.  Grant  for  an  in- 
stant alone,  during  which  I  seated  myself  on  the  window 
ledge  and  took  up  the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  working  women. 
'So  you  do  not  approve  of  me,  Mrs.  Grant?'  'I  don't 
disapprove  of  you,  Miss  Wendell,'  she  replied  gently,  'but 
I  think  every  woman  is  better  off  at  home  taking  care  of 
husband  and  children.  The  battle  with  the  world  hardens 
a  woman  and  makes  her  unwomanly.'  'And  if  one  has  no 
husband?'  I  asked.  'Get  one,'  she  answered  laconically. 
'  But  if  every  woman  were  to  choose  a  husband  the  men 
would  not  go  round;  there  are  more  women  than  men  in 
the  world.'  'Then  let  them  take  care  of  brothers  and 
fathers,' she  returned.  '  I  don't  approve  of  these  women 
who  play  on  the  piano  and  let  the  children  roll  about  on  the 
floor,  or  who  paint  and  write  and  embroider  in  a  soiled 
gown  and  are  all  cross  and  tired  when  the  men  come  home 
and  don't  attend  to  the  house  or  table.  Can  you  make  any 
better  housewife  for  your  cutting  marble?'  'Yes/  I  an- 
swered, '  I  am  developing  muscle  to  beat  biscuit  when  I 
keep  house.' 

"'But,  Mrs.    Grant,   are   there  no  circumstances  under 
which  a  woman   may  go   co  work?'     'I   may  be  old-fash- 


g6  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

ioned;  I  don't  like  this  modern  movement/  she  said,  'but 
I  don't  think  so;  and  yet,  there  are  certain  sorts  of  work 
a  woman  may  well  do;  teaching,  being  governess,  or  any 
taking  care  of  children.'  'But,'  I  replied,  'suppose  a 
case:  A  young  brother  and  two  strong  sisters;  the  young 
man  makes  a  good  salary  but  can't  get  ahead  because  all 
his  earnings  are  consumed  in  taking  care  of  the  girls. 
Hadn't  they  better  go  to  work  and  give  him  a  chance  to 
get  ahead  and  have  a  house  of  his  own,  they  being  as  able 
to  work  as  he?  Are  they  being  unwomanly  in  so  doing? 
Or,  the  case  of  the  father  with  a  large  family  of  girls  and  a 
small  income — are  they  less  gentlewomen  for  helping  earn 
a  living,  lessening  the  providing  of  food  for  care  of  so 
many  mouths  by  adding  to  the  family  funds  ?' 

"For  a  moment  Mrs.  Grant  thought,  and  then,  looking 
far  over  my  head,  across  the  shining  summer  sea,  answered: 
'You  may  be  right;  in  that  case,' slowly,  '  they  ought  to 
go  into  the  world.'  " 

After  the  Duke  had  finished  talking  with  Mrs.  Grant  we 
all  went  out  on  the  balcony  to  watch  the  great  procession 
as  it  passed. 

The  throng  was  wonderful  and  I  heard  a  gentleman  say 
that  he  had  seen  the  crowds  on  Derby  Day,  and  had  been 
a  part  of  the  vast  concourse  of  people  who  witnessed  the 
Wimbledon  Review  in  London,  but  never  in  all  his  life  had 
he  seen  as  many  people  gathered  together  at  any  one  time. 
From  the  porte-cochere  where  Mrs.  Grant  reviewed  the  pro- 
cession, the  scene  was  superb.  I  have  never  beheld  such 
a  mass  of  people.  They  surged  over  to  the  sea-wall  on 
the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  were  packed  in  like  sardines  up 
to  the  very  doors  of  the  house,  even  trampling  upon  the 
flower-beds,  as  the  police  were   powerless  to  resist  them. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  97 

Mrs.  Grant  is  a  very  warm-hearted  and  kindly  woman,  and 
spoke  with  feeling  of  the  wonderful  demonstration  in  honor 
of  our  hero.  It  was  very  interesting  to  meet  so  many  peo- 
ple who  have  achieved  prominence.  General  Miles,  the 
great  Indian  fighter,  and  his  interesting  wife  ;  Mrs.  Strong, 
widow  of  the  late  Gen.  Strong ;  Judge  Gresham,  Gen. 
Chetlain,  young  Mr.  Logan,  the  son  of  Gen.  Logan, 
besides  many  members  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers. 
The  ladies  all  carried  flowers,  and  waved  to  the  orderly 
ranks  of  troops  who  marched  by  the  house  with  uplifted 
hats  in  honor  of  the  distinguished  widow. 

The  bright  uniforms,  gay  flags  and  stirring  music  were 
most  inspiring.  As  the  fourth  division  of  the  procession 
passed  the  house,  Mrs.  Grant  and  her  son  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Palmer  took  their  places  in  the  procession,  and  in  carriages 
just  back  of  them  came  Mrs.  Palmer's  guests.  The  ride 
to  the  grand  stand  was  one  that  cannot  easily  be  forgotten. 
The  princely  homes  upon  the  Lake-Shore  Drive  were 
draped  in  flags,  and  for  miles  the  streets  were  one  dense 
mass  of  humanity.  The  trees  upon  each  side  of  the  drive 
were  decorated  with  small  boys,  who  hung  on  to  the 
branches  like  monkeys. 

As  Mrs.  Grant  alighted  from  her  carriage  every  hat  was 
raised,  and  the  eager  faces  of  many  scarred  veterans  gazed 
wistfully  at  the  beloved  wife  of  the  soldier  whose  memory 
they  were  honoring.  All  down  the  broad  avenue,  spreading 
over  the  beautiful  esplanade  on  to  the  wide  beach  beyond, 
and  standing  around  the  base  of  the  monument  were 
members  of  the  Grand  Army,  and  it  is  estimated  that  fully 
500,000  people  witnessed  the  ceremony.  As  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach  the  drive  was  thronged,  and  as  the  differ- 
ent companies   marched    up,    each    standard-bearer  took 


98 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


his  position  upon  the  stone  steps  that  formed  the  base  of 
the  monument. 

The  sun  shone  upon  the  hundreds  of  fluttering  flags 
and  gleaming  bayonets,  while  slowly,  very  slowly,  the  flag 
parted  and  the  majestic  bronze  figure  of  General  Grant  was 


revealed  to  the  thousands  of  eager  spectators.  In  the  hush 
that  fell  upon  the  multitude,  I  glanced  at  the  wife,  who 
was  gazing  upward  with  streaming  eyes  at  the  cold,  still 
figure.  It  was  not  the  hero,  or  the  soldier,  that  she  strained 
her  eyes  to  see;  but  outlined  against  the  sky  was  the  face  of 
the  man  she  had  loved.  And  it  is  little  wonder  that  the 
hats  of  the  veterans  were  solemnly  raised,  and  there  were 
few  dry  eyes  in  that  vast  throng  as  they  witnessed  her 
emotion. 


Three  Gir/s  in  a  Flat. 


99 


The  unveiling  was  followed  by  a  great  uproar,  as  the 
Navy  and  the  Army  vied  with  each  other  in  a  deafening 
salute. 

We  did  not  wait  for  the  speeches  but  returned  to  the 
house,  and  spent  an  hour  wandering  about  the  various 
rooms,  which  the  Duke  had  never  before  seen. 

The  interior  of  this  stately  home  exceeds  in  grandeur 


any  expectations  that  could  be  formed  of  it.  We 
wandered  through  the  library,  the  ceiling  of  which  is 
beautifully  painted  by  a  famous  artist  with  scenes  and 
characters  from  many  well-known  books.  At  one  corner 
Juliet  leaned  coquettishly  from  her  balcony,  while  oppo- 
site her  Faust  and  Marguerite  strolled  about  their  garden 
The  carved  woodwork  over  the   mantel,  which   was  almost 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


blackened  with  age,  represented  the  full-length  figures  of 
beautiful  women,  and  was  taken,  so  Marjorie  told  us, 
from  an  old  Flemish  cathedral. 

From  this  room  we  stepped  into  the  little  music-room, 
which  is  copied  exactly  from  a  Moorish  palace.  The 
opalescent  hanging-lamps  by  night,  and  the  pink-silk  draper- 
ies by  day,  shed  a  roseate  hue  which  almost  warms  into  life 
the  beautiful  statues.  We  crossed  the  open,  circular  court, 
with  its  mosaic  floor  of  Indian  pattern  and  coloring,  noting 
as  we  passed  the  lovely  little  Puck  in  marble  by  Harriet 
Hosmer,  and  the  famous  Nydia  and  Zenobia;  and  midway 
Marjorie  bade  us  pause  and  raise  our  eyes,  when  lo,  there 
burst  upon  our  sight,  through  the  graceful  Moorish  arches 
of  the  balcony,  high  above  our  heads,  a  cavalcade  of  brave 
knights  on  horseback,  with  crimson  and  golden  banners 
outlined  against  the  blue  sky.  The  Duke  could  not  resist 
an  exclamation  of  surprise  and  delight  on  seeing  this  rich 
picture  in  stained  glass. 

We  spent  an  hour  in  the  Louis  Quatorze  drawing-room, 
where  the  roses,  flung  in  handfuls  on  the  snowy  mosaic 
floor,  gave  a  softness  of  effect  that  was  simply  marvelous. 
The  ceiling  was  painted  by  Perraud  in  the  most  exquisite 
colorings  ;  sleeping  cherubs  representing  night  nestled 
among  the  clouds  and  stars  on  one  side,  while  others, 
bathed  in  the  light  of  the  rising  sun,  laughed  opposite 
them. 

The  magnificent  mantel  of  pure  white  onyx  was 
laden  with  priceless  jades,  while  wonderful  vases  of  cameo, 
peach-blow,  and  Chinese  "  heavenly  blue  "  reflected  them- 
selves in  the  mirrored  walls.  Snowy  fur  rugs  were  scat- 
tered over  the  floor  at  intervals,  and  at  one  end  a  Russian 
sleigh  served  as  a  chair.     Slender  tables  stood  about  the 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


101 


room,  whose  crystal  tops  revealed  collections  of  marvel- 
ous curios.  The  first  contained  watches  alone  of  rare 
and  curious  workmanship  ;  one  that  I  noticed  was  a  beetle 
not  more  than  an  inch  in  length,  which  raised  its  ruby 
wings  to  display  the  hours  ;  others  showed  coins  and 
spun  silver  and  queer  Oriental  jewelry — all  these  valuable 
objects  being  safely  locked  into  their  transparent  recep- 
tacles. I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  dining-room, 
with  its  mahogany  wood- 
work, its  priceless  tapestries, 
its  sideboards  gleaming  with 
precious  silver,  and  its  fres- 
coed walls,  painted  by  the 
skilful  hand  of  Mr.  John 
Elliot,  whose  beautiful  wife 
is  the  daughter  of  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe. 

We  glanced  into  the  re- 
ception-room with  its  rich 
hangings  and  its  delicate 
carvings  of  dull  teak  wood  ; 
where  rare  paintings 
gleamed  from  the  dim  back- 
ground like  jewels  set    in  dark  enamel. 

Rousseau  and  Diaz,  Corot,  Millet,  all  were  there,  and  I 
noticed  the  gray-green  of  a  Bastien-Lepage  as  we  passed; 
but  Marjorie  would  not  let  us  go  up  stairs,  for  she  feared 
that  if  the  Duke  once  saw  the  magnificent  collection  of 
paintings  there  we  should  never  be  able  to  get  her  home. 

But  the  place  that  most  fascinated  me  was  the  conser- 
vatory. Tall  palms  met  overhead  and  rare  tropical  plants 
exhaled  spicy  odors,  while  long  ferns  and  sweetest  flowers 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


fringed   the  tesselated   marble  walks.      The  soft  plash  of 
the  lake  was  heard  in  the  distance,   and  in    one  charming 
corner  swung  an  Indian  hammock  of  white,  braided  palm- 
etto, with  its  soft,  crimson   silk 
cushions.       The    only    light    at 
night  radiates   from  the  jeweled 
lamps  overhead;  but  we 
were  there  in  the  after- 
noon, and    it  seemed  a 
place    where    the    sun- 


- 
1  ~  •  - 


shine    loved  to 

linger    all    day 

long. 

W h en    we 

reached  home 
that  night  and  gathered 
around  the  table  in  our  own 
little  dining-room,  the  flat 
had  never  seemed  so  small 
and   shabby.      Marjorie  re- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


103 


marked  that  she  had  never  noticed  before  that  the  paper- 
ing on  the  wall  and  ceiling  did  not  harmonize,  while  the 
Duke  cast  a  glance  of  withering  scorn  at  our  favorite 
Bohemian  glass  vase,  which  happened  to  contain  nothing 
better  at  the  moment  than  one  limp,  pink  rose.  It  was  not 
until  we  had  tasted  the  steaming  soup  and  delicious  dinner 
that  Katie  had  provided  that  we  were  restored  to  our  usual 
happy  confidence  in  ourselves  and  our  surroundings,  but 
Marjorie  remarked  as  she  retired  to  her  room  that  night, 
that  to  apply  Chas.  Dudley  Warner's  sage  remark,  "  there 
is  nothing  like  getting  a  new  point  of  view,"  was  not  always 
consistent  with  one's  peace  of  mind. 


CHAPTER  X. 


TESSA. 


HE  day  had  been  cold  and  raw, 
with  a  north  wind  blowing,  and 
Marjorie  and  the  Duke  had  just 
come  home  and  flung  themselves 
into  easy  chairs,  too  tired  to  dress 
for  dinner.  The  cannel  fire  crackled 
and  blazed,  chasing  away  the  twi- 
light shadows  with  its  widening 
shafts  of  ruddy  light,  and  the  little 
parlor  was  a  picture  of  comfort. 
The  girls  had  just  settled  themselves  when  the  bell  rang 
and  the  peremptory  rap  at  the  door  announced  that  the 
missing  third  had  arrived. 

Gene  entered  breathlessly,  her  mouth  open  in  her  eager- 
ness to  speak,  her  face  aglow  with  the  rush  up  the  stairway 
and  a  soft,  dark  light  in  her  eyes.  "Girls!"  and  off  went 
hat,   coat  and  gloves  to  the  floor  as  she  talked. 

"  Mr.  Richardson  came  into  the  office  with  such  a  sad 
story  to-day  about  a  young  woman  who  had  come  to  him 
for  work — any  work  that  was  honest. 

She  was  young,  he  said,  and  beautiful  as  a  dream,  though 
her  face  was  worn  and  pallid.  She  seemed  both  proud 
and  timid,  and  the  supplicating  manner  in  which  she  asked 
for  employment  showed  that  she  was  not  accustomed  to 
refusal,  and  that  it  hurt  her  to  say  the  words  that  humbled 
her  before  a  stranger.     He  said  he  was  more  touched  by 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  105 

her  manner  than  by  her  speech,  for  she  asked  him  the 
simple  question  in  a  brief  and  almost  forbidding  way. 
He  invited  her  to  be  seated  and  encouraged  her  to  talk; 
and  before  long,  emboldened,  I  fancy,  by  his  kind,  paternal 
ways  and  lovely  old  face,  she  told  him  a  little  of  her  tragic 
story. 

After  the  terrible  day  that  had  wrecked  her  life, 
she  had  been  half  crazed  with  grief,  but  when  her  ideas  re- 
turned she  realized  that  she  must  make  her  living,  and 
her  thoughts  drifted  to  the  distant  World's  Fair  city  with 
its  thronging  strangers. 

Mr.  Richardson  said  that  her  narrative  stopped  after 
that,  and  though  he  tried  to  induce  her  to  continue,  she 
would  say  no  more.  Finally  he  asked  her  how  long  she 
had  been  in  Chicago.  'Four  months' she  had  replied.  'And 
you  have  found  no  work  in  all  that  time  ?  Do  you  need 
money  ?'  At  this  she  broke  down  and  confessed  with  great 
sobs  that  she  had  not  touched  food  for  two  days,  and  that 
she  had  spent  her  last  dollar  for  lodging,  so  that  in  less 
than  a  week  she  would  be  friendless  and  destitute  in  a 
great  city.  "I  imagine,"  Gene  continued,  "  that  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson must  have  helped  her,  though  he  would  not  acknowl- 
edge it;  but  he  said  she  would  be  in  again  the  next  day, 
when  he  had  promised  to  let  her  know  about  a  place.  He 
said  that  he  had  made  up  this  excuse  to  get  her  to  return, 
as  he  did  not  want  to  lose  her  and  she  had  refused  to  leave 
her  address." 

Marjorie  was  bolt  upright  in  her  chair.  The  Duke  was  on 
her  feet  and  in  a  breath  had  voiced  the  sentiment  of  all, 
by  exclaiming,  "We  will  help  her!  She  must  come  here 
for  her  meals!"  Then,  after  thinking  a  moment — "My 
studio  will  afford  abed,  and  luckily  I  need  a  model  just  now 
and  will  employ  her  until  she  can  get  something  else  to  do." 


106  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

"But  you  don't  know  anything  about  her,"  protested 
Gene,  feeling  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  woman  be- 
cause she  had  introduced  her. 

Marjorie  answered.  "  She  is  a  woman  and  needs  help; 
fate  is  against  her,  and  she  has  come  to  the  right  place  for 
assistance,  for  we  have  known  care  ourselves  and  will 
always  help  a  woman  when  she  is  down." 

That  night  at  dinner  they  talked   it  all   over,  and  when 

Gene  left  in  the  morning  it  was  decided   that   she  was  to 

bring  "  Tessa  " — for  so  they  had  named  her — home  with  her. 
******* 

It  was  six  o'clock.  Gene  was  late  and  Marjorie  and 
the  Duke  stood  at  the  window  watching.  Down  the  street 
came  two  tall,  dark  women;  one,  as  they  drew  nearer, 
proved  to  be  Gene  and — the  Princess  !  Where  had  she 
gotten  her  ? 

How  proudly  she  carried  her  head  !  The  thick  veil 
surrounding  it  made  it  seem  like  a  Madonna's  ;  and  what  a 
step  she  had  !  As  of  a  beautiful  wild  thing  which  had 
been  caught  and  tamed,  but  was  as  yet  unbroken. 

With  what  an  easy  grace  her  arms  swayed  as  she 
walked  !  Now  and  then  she  bent  her  head  in  thought  or 
in  answer  to  Gene. 

The  bell  rang  and  the  Duke  opened  the  door. 

"Tessa,"  said  Gene  (she  did  not  know  her  real  name), 
"this  is  our  sculptor." 

The  woman  looked  up  and  the  shadow  of  a  smile 
crossed  her  face. 

"And  this  is  Marjorie  !" 

By  tacit  consent  Christian  names  were  used  by  the  girls 
in  the  fiat. 

"  We  are  happy  to  see  you.     We  feared   you   might  not 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  107 

come  ;  we  are  so  glad  you  did.  Let  me  have  your 
coat  and  hat." 

In  a  moment  Marjorie  had  taken  them — and  what  a 
revelation! 

A  perfect,  oval  face;  black  hair  which  made  a  soft  broken 
line  around  her  brow,  parted  and  coiled  low  on  her  neck, 
hazel  eyes  and  a  sensitive  mouth  with  deep  corners.  The 
face  was  a  sad  one,  with  recent  lines  of  care  around  the 
mouth  and  eyes. 

Her  hands  were  long,  slender  and  shapely,  beautifully 
cared  for — evidently  those  of  a  lady  and  one  who  had 
known  nothing  of  hard  work. 

They  chatted  gaily  and  of  all  sorts  of  things,  taking 
for  granted  that  Gene  had  explained  everything.  How 
musical  her  voice  was,  with  its  rich  cadences!  She  surely 
came  of  some  Southern  race!  Her  full  white  teeth  gleamed 
through  dark-red  lips.  At  dinner  (and  there  had  been  no 
question  of  allowing  her  to  dine  alone  after  one  glance  at  that 
lovely,  saddened  face)  she  proved  a  charming  talker.  She 
spoke  of  well-known  books,  had  met  some  of  the  authors 
and  had  many  tales  to  tell  of  them;  yet  how  sad  and  tragic 
her  face  was  when  quiet. 

They  had  their  coffee  in  the  little  parlor.  She  did  not 
seem  to  want  to  talk  about  herself,  and  the  girls  were 
too  well  bred  and  had  known  too  much  of  sorrow  to 
question  her.  At  ten  o'clock  the  Duke  arose.  "Will 
you  come  to  the  studio,  Tessa  ?  I  am  sorry  we  cannot 
have  you  here  to-night,  but  the  flat  is  very  small  and  we 
quite  fill  it.  But  my  studio  you  will  find  warm  and  cozy 
and  my  couch  will  make  an  excellent  bed."  She  rose  and 
said,  "  good-night,"  paused  a  moment,  smiled  almost  tear- 
fully and  added,  "you  are  very  good  to  me." 


io8 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


They  went  out  and  down  and  across  the  street  to  the 
studio,  where  the  light  from  a  yellow  lamp  threw  grotesque 
shadows  on  the  walls  of  the  plaster  casts  of  famous  statues 


that  adorned  the  room.  A  white  curtain  waved  gently  in 
the  breeze  which  came  from  the  open  door,  and  incense 
pervaded  the  air.  All  was  nicely  arranged,  for  the  girls 
had  enjoyed  bringing  order  out  of  the  artistic  confusion 
to  honor  the  guest,  and  the  Duke  found  no  fault  as  she 
glanced  around.  "You  won't  mind  those  gray  covers?  They 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


109 


are  my  models."  With  a  quick  turn  she  faced  Tessa. 
"  Will  you  pose  for  me  ?  You  are  very  beautiful."  Tessa 
raised  her  hand  in  protest  and  a  pleading  look  on  her  face 
seemed  to  ask  the  Duke  to  cease,  but  that  young  woman  only 
smiled  and  added:  "  Just  what  I  have  dreamed  of  to  com- 
plete my  reclining  statue  of  Night.  You  shall  see  it  in  the 
morning,  and  then  if  only  I  can  copy  you  !  Good-night, 
pleasant  dreams."  She  held  out  her  large,  brown  hand, 
and  Tessa  put  her  small,  white  one  in  it  for  a  moment. 
"We  shall  be  good  friends,"  she  said,  "I  feel  it,  good- 
night. Breakfast  at  eight,"  she  added  as  she  closed 
the  door,  "we  shall  wait  for  you."  As  she  descended  the 
steps  she  heard  the  bolt  slip,  and  a  moment's  pause  at 
the  outer  door  was  long  enough  for  her  to  hear  a  fall  on 
the  couch  and  a  heavy  sigh. 

Breakfast  was  over;  the  girls  had 
gone,  each  to  her  own  work,  and  the 
Duke  and  Tessa  were  in  the  studio. 
The  Duke  lit  a  fire  in  the  open  grate,  put 
on  her  soft,  heelless  shoes  and  red  fez 
cap.  Then  catching  hold  of  a  long  cover 
she  swung  it  off  with  a  great  wave  of 
her  strong  arms.  Then  a  damp  cloth  or 
so  came  away,  and  there  lay,  in  its 
crude  state,  a  fair  woman,  with 
beautiful  proportions,  on  a  tiger 
skin.  Tessa  rose  and  looked  at  it,  and  the  yellow  clay  of 
the  nude  body  seemed  very  life-like.  "Will  you  pose  for 
this  for  me  ?  If  you  will  I  shall  be  famous."  The  hazel 
eyes  looked  at  the  sculptor;  through  and  through  they 
looked.  A.  moment's  thought.  Could  she  do  it  for  art  ? 
Would  it  be  lack  of  modesty?     Was  she    taking  advantage 


Three  Girls  i?i  a  Flat. 


of  her  necessity?  The  thought  died  under  the  Duke's 
honest  gaze.  "Yes,"  she  breathed,  "if  you  want  me." 
"  One  thing  more."  "  You  will  take  your  meals  with  us, 
sleep  here,  and  I  will  pay  you  for  posing  while  I  model 
you." 

She  bowed;  her  sensitive  nature  seemed  hurt  by  the 
business  transaction.  She  disappeared  for  a  few  minutes 
behind  a  heavy,  red  curtain,  while  the  Duke  arranged  a 
couch  and  tiger  skin  on  a  platform  some  three  feet  above  the 
floor.  "  I  am  ready,"  the  musical  voice  said,"  and  Tessa 
appeared.  The  Greek  proportions,  and  the  dark  hair  which 
descended  to  her  waist  made  one  think  of  Godiva.  She 
ascended  the  platform  and  for  a  moment  looked  at  the  clay 
model,  and  then  instinctively  assumed  the  pose,  her  head 
on  her  arm.  How  well  her  dark  hair  looked  on  the  tiger's 
head !  The  Duke  seized  clay  and  modeling  tools  and  worked 
in  a  frenzy  of  inspiration.  So  the  hours  flew  by.  Lunch- 
time  came.  Tessa  had  been  quiet  all  the  morning  and 
the  sculptor  too  busy  to  talk.  They  parted  to  meet  at 
dinner.  The  Duke  grew  interested  as  she  worked  to  know 
more  of  this  beautiful  creature.  Evidently  an  aristocrat. 
How  she  retired  into  herself  and  kept  out  of  one's  way  ! 

Time  rolled  on  and  the  model  was  about  complete,  and 
the  Duke  knew  it  was  her  chef-d'oeuvre,  though  no  critic  had 
yet  seen  it.  The  day  was  sunny  and  she  was  putting  tell- 
ing touches  here  and  there  to  complete  her  work.  A 
straggling  ray  of  sunlight  fell  athwart  Tessa's  face  and 
she  looked  up  and  smiled  as  the  Duke  stepped  back  to  get  a 
better  view.  "Will  you  listen  to  me  while  I  tell  you  a 
tale?"  The  sculptor  laid  down  a  lump  of  clay  she  had  been 
using,  came  over  and  sat  down  on  the  side  of  the  couch. 
Tessa  had  rolled  herself  in  a  crimson-silk  blanket.     "You 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


are  like  that  ray  of  sunlight,"  she  began,  "  and  I  am  glad 
I  have  been  of  use  to  you."  "  You  have  made  my  rep- 
utation," said  the  sculptor  impulsively.  "  It  is  you  !  I 
have  only  copied  you  !"  They  had  somehow  grown  to 
respect  and  trust  each  other  in  these  long  hours  of  work. 

Tessa  continued:  "  I  was  born  of  a  noble  family  in 
Italy,  though  I  have  never  lived  there  since  I  was  a  child, 
for  my  father  moved  to  Russia  when  I  was  but  three  years 
of  age.  My  real  name  is  Carmen  Felicitas  Romero.  I  do 
not  remember  my  mother,  for  she  died  while  I  was  an 
infant,  but  I  never  missed  her  care,  for  my  father  was  so 
tender  and  gentle  and  loving.  He  simply  idolized  me  and 
I  never  knew  him  to  cross  a  single  wish  until  he  objected 
to  the  constant  attentions  of  Thaddeus  Romanoff. 

"  Thaddeus  was  the  son  of  our  nearest 
neighbor,  and  I  think  I  have  always  loved  ■■..,-.■■''  .  j 

him.  I  remember  that  before  I  learned 
to  talk  Russian  I  used  to  watch  with  de- 
light the  little  boy,  with  mischievous  eyes, 
who  sat  in  church  with  his  nurse  on  the 
high-backed  bench  opposite. 

"As  a  girl  I  saw  him  but  little,  for 
we  lived  in  the  country,  and  nine  miles 
of  forest  lay  between  the  estates.  When  I  was  fourteen, 
father  sent  me  to  Italy  to  study,  and  gave  up  his  interests 
to  live  with  me  in  Florence,  but  when  I  was  sixteen,  I  took 
the  fever,  and  the  physicians  ordered  me  back  to  Russia. 

"  It  was  about  this  time  that  young  Thaddeus  Romanoff 
came  down  to  his  country  estate  to  spend  a  few  weeks. 
We  lived  many  miles  from  St.  Petersburg,  but  even  into 
our  remote  district  strange  rumors  had  penetrated  concern- 
ing the  gay  and  dissipated  life  he  had  been  leading;  while 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


some  people  even  hinted  that  he  was  concerned  in  certain 
Nihilistic  plots  that  had  been  filling  the  countryside  with 
apprehension. 

"  We  met  one  day  in  church,  and  I  was  conscious  that  a 
pair  of  bright  eyes  followed  my  every  movement.  Father 
had  told  me  of  Thaddeus'  expected  visit,  or  I  should  never 
have  recognized  my  childish  acquaintance  in  the  tall, 
soldierly  man  who  bowed  so  reverently  as  I  passed  on  my 
way  out.  The  next  day  we  met  in  the  woods,  and  al- 
though I  had  quite  made  up  my  mind  not  to  speak,  I 
could  not  resist  the  winning  smile  with  which  he  offered 
me  his  hand.  After  this  we  saw  each  other  frequently, 
and  in  a  few  short  weeks  we  made  the  discovery  that  we 
loved  each  other.  It  was  then  that  I  insisted  that  he 
should  come  to  see  me  openly,  for  I  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  deceiving  my  father;  but  from  the  first  he  re- 
garded Thaddeus  with  a  coldness  and  aversion  that  seemed 
to  me  simply  unaccountable. 

"  Matters  went  on  in  this  way  for  several  weeks,  when 
one  day  Thaddeus  sent  me  a  note  asking  me  to  meet  him 
at  nine  that  night.  I  went,  for  I  felt  that  there  was  some 
vague  trouble  ahead,  and  I  had  scarcely  reached  our  tryst- 
ing-place  when  Thaddeus  came  galloping  up  on  his  mad, 
black  horse. 

"  He  looked  pale  when  he  took  me  in  his  arms,  and  in  a 
moment  he  told  me  all.  He  had  become  implicated  in  a 
political  conspiracy — he  did  not  have  time  to  give  details 
— but  he  must  fly  from  Russia  at  once,  and  did  I  have  the 
courage  to  go  with  him  ?  I  was  horrified,  and  begged  for 
time  to  think,  but  he  said  no — every  moment  was  precious 
— he  might  be  arrested  and  exiled  at  any  time  without  a 
hearing.     I  was  young — 1   loved  him — he  was  in  trouble 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


and  so  I  went.  I  remember  that  we  rode  to  a  distant  post 
town  and  were  married,  and  not  until  the  ceremony  was 
over  did  I  notice  that  I  still  wore  my  slippers  and  little 
evening  gown  of  white,  and  that  the  wind  had  loosened 
my  curls  to  their  full  length,  for  I  wore  no  hat.  I  never 
thought  of  my  father  until  we  were  safely  on  the  vessel 
and  had  started  for  America,  and  then  such  a  rush  of  sor- 
row and  shame  came  over  me  that  for  days  I  refused  to 
be  comforted.  I  never  wrote  home."  Tessa's  eyes  grew 
misty,  but  she  struggled  bravely  on. 

"  We  came  to  America,  settled  in  San  Francisco,  and 
Thaddeus  quickly  found  a  comfortable  position.  At  first 
it  was  all  sunshine  and  happiness — what  did  I  care  for  lost 
grandeur.  And  my  little  baby  girl  was  the  pride  and  joy 
of  my  life.  But  one  dreadful  day  a  strange  woman  came 
to  see  me.  She  was  a  peasant.  How  can  I  tell  you?" — and 
Tessa  covered  her  face.  "  She  claimed  to  be  Thaddeus' 
wife  !  and  said  she  had  followed  him  to  this  country.  I 
waited  until  he  came  home.  I  asked  him — and  oh,  the 
agony  on  his  face!  '  I  thought  her  dead,'  was  all  he  uttered. 
I  never  reproached  him."  (Tessa  was  crying  now.)  I 
simply  left  that  night — you  know  the  rest — I  came  direct  to 
Chicago."  "  And  your  baby  ?"  the  Duke  cried.  Tessa's 
face  darkened.  "I  am  almost  afraid  to  tell  you."  "No, 
no,"  pleaded  the  Duke.  "Well — my  little  Carmen  is  just 
a  block  away."  "  What  !  in  Chicago  !  And  you  never 
told  us  !  Why  Tessa — and  you  might  have  had  her  with 
you  all  the  time  !"  "  Do  you  really  mean  that  ?"  she  cried 
with  a  heavenly  smile  illuminating  her  face.  "  Then  I 
must  tell  you  all  about  her.  Every  night  after  you  went 
back  to  the  flat,  I  locked  the  studio  and  rushed  over  to  see 
my  baby.     I  didn't  dare  to  tell  you  about  her  for  fear  of 


1 1 4  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

losing  the  income  that  supported  us  both;  but,  oh,  I  am  so 
glad  that  you  know  it  now,"  and  her  eyes  were  again  suf- 
fused with  tears. 

The  next  day  there  was  a  great  surprise  in  the  fiat,  for 

when   Marjorie    and  Gene   entered  the    dining-room   they 

found,  seated  at  the  table,  in  her  high  chair  and  quite  alone, 

the  dearest,  happiest  little  mite   of  humanity 

\      they  had  ever   seen.     After  Tessa    and    the 

•]     Duke  came  out  from  behind  the  screen  and 

**./'      rescued  the  baby  from  being  smothered  with 

kisses,    they   explained  her  appearance   and 

there  was  a  merry-making  all  round.     Little 

Carmen  proved  to  be  the  sweetest-tempered 

child    in    existence,     and    spent    her    days 

playing    on     the    floor    of    the    studio,  whde    the    girls 

worked  or  chatted. 

Sometimes  the  baby  herself  posed  as  a  model,  much  to 
the  delight  of  all  concerned,  and  she  soon  found  her  way 
into  all  the  girls'  hearts. 

But  despite  little  Carmen's  cheering  presence,  Tessa 
still  continued  sad.  Sometimes  she  looked  so  frail  that 
we  worried  about  her,  but  we  knew  of  nothing  that  we 
could  do  to  relieve  her  anxiety,  though  we  all  tried  to  find 
Jier  some  permanent  occupation. 

One  afternoon  Tessa  and  the  Duke  were  in  the  studio  (the 
baby  was  asleep)  and  Tessa  had  been  posing  for  the  last  time 
for  the  statue,  which  was  about  finished,  when  the  Duke 
happened  to  notice  a  sudden  pallor  which  overspread  her 
face.  "  Are  you  ill,  dear  ?  You  look  so  tired,"  Great  cir- 
cles had  come  under  Tessa's  eyes.  "  May  I  get  you  some 
wine?"  She  ran  to  her  little  emergency-shelf  and  poured 
some  into  a  tumbler,  but  before  she  could  turn  she  heard 
a  fall. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  115 

There  she  lay  on  the  floor — the  tiger  skin  on  the  plat- 
form above  her,  its  eyes  glaring  into  her  glassy  ones  like 
some  horrible  fate.  How  beautiful  she  was.  The  Duke 
stooped  and  touched  her  breast  ;  it  was  cold  and  damp. 

With  a  feeling  of  awe,  and  reverence,  and  horror,  she 


"sometimes  the  baby  posed  as  a  model." 

drew  the  crimson  blanket  over  the  lovely  form  and  went 
for  help. 

s£  *  %.  %:  *  *  % 

After  Tessa's  swoon  and  the  Duke's  fright  we  held  a  con- 
sultation as  \o  what  we  should  do,  and  it  was  decided  that 
Gene  should  write  to  Tessa's  father  in  far-away  Russia. 
Quick  as  cable  could  carry  it  came  the  reply,  and  in  a  few 
short  weeks  a  grand  old  man  arrived,  with  snow-white  hair 
and  beard,  and  warm  hazel  eyes  very  like  Tessa's  own. 
But  I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  reconciliation! 


n6 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


Many  months  have  passed  since  then,  but  the  Duke  has 
received  happy  letters  from  Tessa,  who  is  improving  in 
health  every  day.  Only  last  week  came  a  sweet  picture  of 
little  Carmen — who  has  almost  grown  out  of  our  remem- 
brance— but  the  young  mother  who  holds  her  so  lovingly 
in  her  arms  will  always  be  to  us  "  Our  Tessa." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    DINNER. 

HEN  the  second  session  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Commission  was  almost 
ended  we  invited  a  few  of  our  partic- 
ular friends  to  dine  with  us.  There 
was  the  courtly  Commissioner  from 
Tennessee,  the  gallant  Colonel  from 
Texas,  the  genial  representative  from  Arkansas,  and  the 
eloquent  Kentuckian.  We  put  our  heads  together  and 
arranged  an  elaborate  bill  of  fare,  congratulating  ourselves 
upon  the  fact  that  it  was  absolutely  no  trouble  to  give  a 
dinner  when  we  had  so  excellent  a  cook  as  Katie.  Alas, 
when  we  met  at  luncheon,  we  were  told  that  Katie  had  re- 
ceived news  of  an  accident  in  her  family,  and  had  left  sud- 
denly for  the  country.  However,  being  a  faithful  creature, 
she  promised  to  send  us  a  friend  who  could  even  rival  her 
in  the  serving  of  a  meal.  Marjorie  seemed  a  little  nerv- 
ous over  this  friend,  and  her  appearance— for  she  arrived 
before  we  left  the  house — did  not  comfort  us. 
She  was  a  short,  stout  Irish  woman,  who  car- 
ried her  nose  up  in  the  air  and  seemed  con- 
tinually on  the  aggressive.  When  questioned 
as  to  her  ability  as  a  cook,  she  replied  shortly 
that  she  certainly  would  not  pretend  to  do  a 
thing  she  knew  nothing  about,  whereupon  we 
hastilv  retired  from  the  kitchen,  and  held  a 


n8 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


■:-■  jSk 


council,  which  resulted  in  the  Duke's  promising  to  make 
the  salad,  Marjorie  to  set  the  table,  and  I  was  to  order  the 
dessert  from  Kinsley's  and  send  home  some  flowers.  The 
question  as  to  who  was  to  wait  on  the  table  must  be  settled 

immediately,  so  we  again 
went  in    a    body    to    the 
kitchen,  Marjorie   and    I 
following  the   Duke,  who 
stalked    boldly   out   with 
her  hands   in   those  won- 
derful pockets.       As   we 
opened  the  kitchen  door 
Bridget    was    rubbing   a 
pan  with   a  concentrated 
force   and   violence    that 
might    have    been    ex- 
pended   on    a    worthier 
cause.      She  did  not  deign 
to    notice     us    until    the 
Duke  asked    if   she  ever 
waited  on  a  table.     "  In- 
deed, and  she  waited  upon 
nobody,    and    all    the  respectable    families   she   had    ever 
lived    out    with    had    'reached'    for   themselves."      Con- 
cluding that    argument    was  useless,  and  not  wishing  the 
Commissioners  to  do  the  "  reaching  "  on  this  occasion,  we 
decided    to  call   in  our  emergency  maid,   little    Mary,  the 
fourteen-year-old    daughter  of    our  washerwoman.       Mar- 
jorie promised  to  return   early  and  give  her  some  instruc- 
tions, and  also  see  that  her  wardrobe  should  not  reflect  dis- 
credit on  the  flat.       Feeling  assured  of  Marjorie's  ability  to 
rise  to   the   occasion — for  she    had    the  most  remarkable 


'  LITTLE    MARY. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  119 

faculty  of  making  a  success  of  everything  she  undertook 
— we  parted  for  the  afternoon,  promising  to  return  early. 

I  hastened  home  at  five  o'clock  to  dress,  and  in  answer 
to  my  impatient  ring  the  door  was  opened  by  little  Mary, 
who  was  resplendent  in  a  dainty  fluted  apron  and  jaunty 
cap,  while  her  face  was  so  eager  and  she  appeared  so  anx- 
ious to  fill  her  position  of  trust  creditably  that  I  could  not 
help  feeling  confidence  in  her  ability.  A  sense  of  good 
cheer  and  welcome  pervaded  the  flat,  and  the  entire  suite 
of  rooms  wore  a  holiday  air.  I  could  hear  rapid  walking 
and  the  noise  of  bureau  drawers  being  opened  and  shut  in 
the  Duke's  room,  and  knew  from  the  commotion  that  the 
young  woman  was  making  an  elaborate  toilet.  Marjorie 
was  a  picture  in  her  dainty  lavender  gown,  which  suited  so 
well  her  golden  hair,  and  with  a  white  rose  on  her  breast 
she  seemed  the  idyllic  hostess  that  we  find  in  the  poetry  of 
an  age  that  is  gone.  She  was  just  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  the  table  as  I  entered  the  dining-room,  and 
under  her  artistic  hand  it  was  a  combination  of  dazzling 
cut-glass,  shining  silver,  soft  lights  and  glowing  flowers. 
Vases  of  chrysanthemums  stood  on  the  sideboard,  and  the 
mantel  was  covered  with  roses  and  trailing  vines.  In  the 
center  of  the  table  was  a  tall,  slender  Bohemian  glass  vase, 
the  pride  of  the  flat,  filled  with  La  France  roses  and  feath- 
ery Maiden  Hair  ferns,  while  long  fern-leaves  were  laid  on 
the  table  around  the  vase. 

Marjorie  had  just  trailed  a  piece  of  ivy  around  one  of 
the  tall  silver  candelabra,  when  she  turned  and  saw  me. 
"  Oh,  Gene,  I  have  just  been  wishing  for  you.  Do  run 
upstairs  and  return  the  courtesy  of  our  frying-pan, 
which  we  loaned  Mrs.  Brown,  by  borrowing  her  oyster 
forks."     I  assented  and  soon  returned,  not  only  with  the 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


oyster  forks,  but  with  Mrs.  Brown  herself,  who  followed  me 
and  bore  in  her  hand  an  immense,  many-pronged  silver 
epergne.  "  You  dear  girls,  giving  a  dinner  and  didn't  tell 
me?  Here  I've  brought  you  my  epergne.  It  belonged 
to  my  grandfather,  Colonel  Carey,  of  Virginia,  and  we 
used  to  have  it  on  our  table  when  my  first  husband  and  I 
entertained  so  much  in  Baltimore.  Trouble  me  ?  Not  a 
bit  in  the  world.  I  can  whisk  all  those  things  off  in  a 
jiffy."  And  the  good-natured,  but  misguided  woman, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  seized  upon  poor  Mar- 
jorie's  artistic  decorations  and  swept  them  ruthlessly  from 
the  table,  planting  her  huge,  ungainly  ornament  triumph- 
antly in  their  place.  And  there  it  stood  on  our  little  table, 
looking  about  as  inappropriate  as  a  silk  hat  on  a  three- 
year-old  boy.  In  vain  we  protested,  but  she,  still  insist- 
ing, carried  her  disagreeable  point.  We  continued  the 
preparations,  and  just  as  soon  as  she  had  taken  her  de- 
parture— and  she  stayed  until  we  were  beside  ourselves — 
Marjorie,  in  anything  but  a  sweet  spirit,  laid  violent  hands 
upon  the  relic  of  Carey  elegance,  and  transplanted  it  to 
the  kitchen  table.  The  New  York  cousin,  whom  we  had 
asked  to  chaperone  our  party,  came  first,  and  was  simply 
charming  in  her  gray  dress  and  pink  roses,  and  we  were 
exceedingly  proud  of  her  as  she  entered  the  room  in  her 
gracious,  elegant  way.  "  She  is  so  very  swell,  you  know," 
the  Duke  said. 

By  this  time  little  Mary  had  reached  a  state  of  nervous 
excitement  which  was  appalling  to  behold,  while  Bridget 
was  calling  on  every  saint  in  the  calendar  known  to  a  de- 
vout Catholic,  but  in  spite  of  these  minor  domestic  frictions 
Bridget  had  prepared  a  well-cooked  dinner,  and  we  seated 
ourselves  at  the  table  with  a  sense  of  relief  that  everything 
so  far  had  been  successful. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


Our  guests  were  exceedingly  entertaining,  and  told  a 
number  of  amusing  incidents  about  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Commissioners.  A  certain  very  small  Commissioner,  who 
seemed  to  amuse  them  greatly,  had  always  carried  an  im- 


mense palm-leaf  fan,  and  when  he  arose  to  his  feet  to  de- 
mand the  floor,  he  would  wave  his  fan  violently  at  the 
president  to  compel  his  attention,  knowing  that  he  would 
not  otherwise  be  recognized.  An  incident  was  divertingly 
related  showing  that  there  was  still  a  strong  feeling  exist- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


ing  among  certain  of  the  Southern  Commissioners.  Upon 
one  occasion  Mr.  Wilson,  Republican  Commissioner  from 
Connecticut,  had  the  chair  and  was  enumerating  the  vari- 
ous States  whose  Legislatures  had  failed  to  make  any  ap- 
propriation. When  he  mentioned  Georgia,  the  Commis- 
sioner from  that  State,  an  unreconstructed  rebel  and  a 
Democrat,  immediately  pricked  up  his  ears.  The  ex-Gov- 
ernor, very  old  and  exceedingly  deaf,  is  in  addition  so 
rheumatic  that  walking  is  both  painful  and  difficult.  Catch- 
ing the  one  word,  "  Georgia,"  and  being  suspicious  of  the 
friendly  feeling  existing  in  the  heart  of  a  Republican  from 
Connecticut,  besides,  being  totally  unable  to  hear  a  word, 
he  excitedly  seized  the  arms  of  his  chair,  and  with  sup- 
pressed groans,  raised  himself  to  his  feet.  Clutching  his 
cane,  he  laboriously  stamped  across  the  room  to  where  Mr. 
Colquitt,  of  Tennessee,  was  sitting.  "  Colquitt,  what  is  that 
man  saying  about  Gawjah  ?  "  he  asked  in  a  loud  whisper, 
while  he  looked  threateningly  at  the  chair.  "Oh,  nothing, 
Governor,  nothing.  He's  only  referring  to  the  fact  that 
Georgia,  with  other  States,  has  failed  to  make  an  appropri- 
ation," Mr.  Colquitt  answered  reassuringly.  "Well,  tell  him 
that  T  say,"  and  the  Governor  shook  his  cane  threateningly, 
"to  let  Gawjah  alone.  It's  none  of  his  business  what  our 
Legislature  does,  and  if  he  don't  like  what  I  say,  tell  him 
that  I  am  here  to  answer  for  the  honah  of  Gawjah,  suh  !  " 
and  the  irate  old  gentleman  turned  and  stamped  back  to  his 
seat,  where  he  sat  glaring  at  the  chair  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  afternoon.  We  all  laughed  very  heartily  at 
this  story,  and  no  one  seemed  more  amused  than  the  Com- 
missioner who  had  related  it,  as  he  always  thoroughly  en- 
joys his  own  jokes. 

Our  dinner  was  progressing  famously.     The  soup  had 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  123 

been  delicious,  the  turkey  beautifully  done,  and  I  was 
secretly  wondering  at  little  Mary's  aptitude,  when  I  hap- 
pened to  glance  at  Marjorie,  who  was  regarding  her  with 
painful  uneasiness.  I  soon  discovered  that  our  small  maid- 
servant, in  her  zeal,  not  only  removed  the  plates  with  each 
course,  but  the  salt,  the  olives,  the  almonds,  the  celery  and 
the  glasses.  These  things  were  placed  on  the  sideboard 
for  an  instant,  and  then  returned  to  the  table,  the  glasses 
being  studiously  emptied  and  refilled  each  time.  I  had  my 
misgivings  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  ice-pitcher  under  such 
trying  circumstances,  and  far  from  feeling  Marjorie's  an- 
noyance, was  highly  amused,  as  all  the  signals  given  were 
in  vain.  Little  Mary  was  at  that  moment  about  to  swoop 
down  on  the  Duke's  glass,  but  that  young  woman  was  too 
quick  for  her,  and  held  it  firmly  while  she  turned  to  the 
Commissioner  next  to  her,  saying  :  "  Now,  Major,  tell  us 
one  of  your  good  stories,"  and  without  further  urging  he 
told  of  a  recent  experience. 

Being  invited  last  spring  to  attend  the  house-warming  of 
an  elegant  home  on  the  South  Side,  owned  by  one  of 
Chicago's  wealthy  pork-packers,  he  had  accepted  and  en- 
joyed the  evening  thoroughly.  When  the  time  came  for 
him  to  take  his  departure  he  bade  his  hostess  good-night, 
and  she  accompanied  him  to  the  door,  where  stood  a  tall, 
red-faced  Irishman  in  a  dress  suit,  to  whom  she  said  : 
"  John,  won't  you  call  Major  G.'s  carriage?"  The  man 
started  out  of  the  front  door  followed  by  the  Commissioner, 
and  as  it  was  an  exceedingly  stormy  night,  the  Major  stood 
under  the  shelter  of  the  porte  cochere,  saying  :  "  John,  I 
will  wait  here  until  you  find  the  carriage."  John,  in  the 
meantime,  hatless  and  with  thin  shoes,  went  out  across  the 
lawn,  found  the  carriage,  and  came  back   for  our  friend,. 


124  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

whom  he  politely  assisted  down  the  steps.  "  Imagine  my 
surprise  and  mortification,"  added  the  narrator  of  this 
story,  "  when,  upon  the  following  evening,  I  saw  my  host- 
ess in  her  box  at  the  opera  with  the  man  whom  I  had  mis- 
taken for  her  footman  sitting  beside  her.  I  congratulated 
myself  every  time  I  looked  at  that  box  that  my  overcoat 
had  been  so  tightly  buttoned  that  I  could  not  reach  my 
pocket,  and  that  so  I  had  been  spared  the  mortification 
of  tipping  my  host  for  his  courtesy." 

By  this  time  we  had  finished  the  more  substantial  part 
of  our  dinner,  and  were  waiting  for  dessert.  Little  Mary 
had  retired  to  the  kitchen,  and  we  heard  an  ominous  pound- 
ing and  commotion  out  there.  I  suspected  that  Bridget 
was  having  difficulty  with  something,  and  when  little  Mary 
finally  appeared  with  the  ice  cream,  I  knew  that  it  must 
have  been  the  mould  that  had  confused  her,  as  there  was 
no  shape  to  the  cream  whatever.  Marjorie  whispered  the  one 
word  "  cake,"  and  little  Mary  again  disappeared,  while  we 
all  three  talked  at  once,  on  entirely  different  subjects,  and 
our  pretty  chaperone  smiled  sweetly  on  the  guests  to  cover 
up  this  domestic  difficulty.  Our  hand-maid  at  last  re- 
turned, and  with  a  frightened  face,  said  to  Marjorie  in  an 
audible  whisper  :  "  It's  fell  in  the  chute."  Of  course  we 
tried  to  look  unconscious,  but  the  expression  on  the  face 
of  the  Commissioner  from  Arkansas  was  too  much  for  us. 
He  seemed  anxious  and  curious  and  amazed  all  at  once 
over  little  Mary's  message,  and  fearing  that  he  would  think 
our  cake  the  victim  of  some  kind  of  a  rifle  match,  we  has- 
tened to  explain  to  him  that  all  fiats  have  chutes,  leading 
from  the  kitchen  to  the  basement,  where  ashes  and  various 
things  can  be  deposited.  The  covering  to  our  shute  had 
been  broken,  and  Bridget  had  doubtless  carelessly  set  the 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  125 

cake-basket  on  this  broken  lid  and  it  had  gone  through. 
In  spite  of  our  embarrassment  over  this  accident,  it  made 
us  all  laugh  so  heartily  that  we  drank  our  coffee  in  a  right 
merry  mood,  and  after  our  guests  had  gone,  and  we  sat 
about  the  fire  talking  it  all  over,  as  girls  will,  we  congratu- 
lated ourselves  upon  the  fact  that  our  little  dinner  had 
been  quite  a  success.  "  But,  girls,  did  you  hear  the  sequel 
to  Mrs.  Brown's  epergne  ?  "  Marjorie  said.  "  Well,  you 
know,  Virginia,  that  I  set  it  on  the  kitchen  table  in  my 
wrath  and  vexation,  and  little  Mary  tells  me  it  perfectly 
infuriated  Bridget,  as  it  took  up  so  much  room — you  know, 
girls,  it  does  look  like  a  steamboat — so  she  pushed  it  under 
the  sink  out  of  her  way,  and  who  should  come  around  to 
the  kitchen  door  and  see  it  but  Mrs.  Brown  herself!" 
"Served  her  right,"  said  the  Duke,  "we  never  do  have  a 
thing  in  this  flat  but  she  wants  to  have  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  it  all."  "From  frying-pans  on  up  to  epergnes," 
Marjorie  added,  laughingly. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


VIRGINIA  S    DIARY. 


S  we  were  sitting  around  the 
fire  one  evening  after  dinner, 
the  girls  said:  "Now,  Vir- 
ginia, do  tell  us  about  Lady 
Aberdeen  ;  is  she  as  lovely  as 
they  say  ?" 

"  Indeed  she  is  !  I  am  com- 
pletely charmed  with  her." 

"When  did  you  see  her?" 
queried  the  Duke. 

"  When  she  accepted  Mrs. 
Palmer's   invitation    to    visit 
the  Board  rooms  of  the  Lady 
Managers." 
"  Is  she  handsome  ?" 

"She  is  tall  and  fine-looking,  with  a  very  intelligent  face 
and  a  pair  of  earnest  gray  eyes.  She  seemed  much  inter- 
ested in  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  and  was  anxious  to 
know  if  Sir  Henry  Wood  had  yet  nominated  the  committee 
of  women  in  England,  who  were  to  co-operate  with  our 
Board.  We  told  her  we  had  not  heard  of  it,  and  Sir  Henry 
had  scarcely  had  time  to  arrange  a  committee,  as  he  had 
■only  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  fifth  of  October.  She 
thinks  it  best,  as  there  is  a  separate  commission  of  men  for 
Ireland,  Scotland  and  England,  that  there  should  also  be  a 

126 


Three  Girls  in  a  Fiat. 


127 


separate  commission  of  women,  as  the  articles  exhibited  by- 
women  in  each  country  would  be  so  entirely  different. 
Mrs.  Palmer  suggested  that  she  should  work  that  matter  up 
upon  her  return  to  England. 

"  While  we  were  talking,  a  gentleman  called  to  see  Mrs. 
Palmer  in  regard  to  having  Belique  ware  manufactured 
upon  the  World's  Fair 
grounds  during  the 
Exposition,  and  I 
think  they  have  de- 
cided that  the  Belique 
manufactory  which  he 
represented  will  con- 
tribute a  vase  de- 
signed and  made 
entirely  by  women,  to 
the  Woman's  build- 
ing. 

"Before  she  left  the 
office  Mrs.  Stark- 
weather asked  Lady 
Aberdeen  to  inscribe 
her  name  upon  our 
autograph  book,  and 
she  smilingly  wrote, 
'Ishbel  Aberdeen,  Haddo  House,  Scotland.'  As  she 
returned  the  pen  she  said:  'I  imagine  you  have  few  such 
unusual  names  ;  and  do  you  know  that  Ishbel  is  the  Gaelic 
for  Elizabeth  ?' 

"  In  her  sweet,  womanly  way,  Lady  Aberdeen  talked  to  us 
about  our  great  work  here  for  women,  which  she  thought 
so  fine,  and  her  presence  was  so  gracious  and  winning  that 


LADY   ABERDEEN. 


128  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

she  quite  won  our  hearts.  She  told  Mrs.  Palmer  that  she 
thought  the  English  women  were  far  in  advance  of  the 
American  women  in  a  political  way,  and  referred  to  the 
recent  article  upon  that  subject  by  Justin  McCarthy,  in  the 
North  American  Review,  as  a  very  correct  presentation  of  the 
wonderful  influence  wielded  by  women  in  English  politics. 

"  'But,'  said  her  ladyship,  'I  am  convinced  that  in  a 
business  way  the  American  woman  is  far  ahead  of  the 
English.  We  have  no  such  system  of  bookkeeping  and 
office  work  as  I  see  here  among  your  women.'  " 

"  Gene,  I  should  think  that  you  would  see  many  interest- 
ing and  queer  people  in  the  Board  rooms.  Why  don't  you 
put  them  down  in  a  diary  ?" 

"Why,  I  have  a  little  note  book,"  said  Gene,  "  it  is  some- 
where in  my  room,"  and  she  soon  returned  with  a  much 
worn  little  memorandum  book. 

"  That  is  great,"  said  the  Duke  ;  "  now  read  us  some  of 
the  extracts  in  it." 

"  Won't  it  bore  you  ?" 

"  Of  course  not." 

"  Well,  here  is  one  :" 

Nov.  23d. — "Now,  girls,  this  is  really  remarkable " 
(aside).  "Mrs. ,  specialist,  has  the  secret  of  re- 
moving all  wrinkles  from  the  face.  A  queer-looking  woman 
is  with  her,  whom  she  calls  one  of  her  'samples.'  Sixmonths 
ago,  the  '  sample'  asserts,  her  face  was  as  wrinkled  as  a 
checker-board.  It  is  really  quite  round  and  rosy  now. 
The  wrinkles  are  removed  by  electric  needles  (which  may 
account  for  the  fact  that  the  pupil  in  the  'sample's'  left 
eye  is  three  times  as  large  as  that  in  the  right),  and  the 
process  takes  three  months.  The  specialist  has  established 
a  house  here  where  patients  may  board  until  cured.  She 
says  she  will  do  one  eye  for  anybody  free  of  charge." 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  129 

"  I  think  John  L.  Sullivan  has  made  the  same  assertion," 
said  the  Duke,  sotto  voce. 

"  But,  listen  now,  girls,  this  is  really  ridiculous."  (Reads.) 

"  The  specialist's  idea  of  an  exhibit  is  this:  She  will  take 
some  old  lady,  the  older  and  more  wrinkled  the  better,  and 
removing  the  wrinkles  from  one  side  of  her  face,  will  ex- 
hibit her  in  the  Woman's  Building." 

"  Only  a  full-fledged  voter  would  have  the  strength  of 
mind  to  do  that,"  said  Marjorie  aside. 

"The  old  lady  thus  exhibited  will  have  the  wrinkles  re- 
moved from  the  other  side  of  her  face  after  the  Exposi- 
tion, the  entire  treatment  in  this  case  to  be  free  of  charge." 

"The  only  suggestion  I  would  make,"  said  the  Duke, 
who  was  convulsed  with  laughter,  "is  this;  that  the  old  lady 
keep  turning  her  head  from  side  to  side  like  a  Chinese 
Mandarin,  showing  first  one  side  and  then  the  other." 

"Now,  you  needn't  laugh  girls,  for  what  I  have  read  you 
actually  occurred." 

"  Do  read  some  more,"  came  in  chorus  from  the  girls,  who 
were  highly  amused. 

"  Well,  here  is  a  second  .extract,  if  you  care  to  hear  it." 

Nov.  24th. — "  I  was  sitting  at  my  desk  this  morning, 
when  the  door  opened  and  a  little  old  lady  glided  softly  in. 
She  wore  a  bonnet  like  a  candle-snuffer,  with  the  strings 
tied  down  straight  over  her  ears,  while  three  black  ostrich 
feathers,  guiltless  of  all  curl,  stood  straight  up  in  front. 
She  was  small  and  thin  and  held  a  black  shawl  tightly 
around  her  with  one  hand,  while  she  grasped  a  little  black 
bag  with  the  other.  I  think  she  would  have  called  this  bag 
a  reticule.  She  wore  large,  owlish-looking  glasses,  and  fix- 
ing her  piercing  eyes  on  me  said  in  a  deep,  bass  voice  :  '  I 
am  a  Daughter  of  the  Revolution. 


i3° 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


errand   to  me,   which   in   spite  of  her 
terrible  voice,  was  a  very  mild  one." 
"  Here  is  another  entry,  girls,  of  the 
same  date,  which  will  make 
your  blood  run  cold.     It  is 
almost  too  horrible  to  relate, 
but  as  it  is  a  matter  of  his- 
tory, I  think  I  will  tell  you. 
Mr.  Hirst,  Chief  of  Installa- 
t  i  o  n  ,   sent 
down  a  let- 
ter to-day, 
in  accord- 
ance with 
Mrs.     Palm- 
er's   request 
that        he 
would  notify 
her  of    all 


"'My 
grandfather 
was  in  the 
Revolut  ion- 
ary  War,  and 
so  was  my 
father.' 

"As  she 
peered  at  me 
through  those 

horned   glasses   and    looked  so 
fierce,  she  added  in  a  deep  voice: 

"'All    my   family  have   been 
fighters." 

"  Cold    chills    ran    down    my 
back  at  that  announcement,  but  I  arose 
and  offered  her  a  seat,  and  she  stated  her 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  131 

applications  made  by  women,  announcing  the  fact  that  a 
certain  woman,  an  embalmer  by  profession " 

"A  what?"  screamed  the  Duke. 

"An  embalmer.  Now  listen,  and  if  you  don't  say  that 
the  Lady  Managers  have  a  queer  collection  of  letters,  I 
will  be  surprised.  She  wishes  to  exhibit  her  work,  and  adds 
that  she  desires  to  compete — think  of  it  !  She  says  in  a  very 
matter-of-fact,  business-like  way,  that  she  wants  a  corpse 
constantly  on  exhibition  in  the  Woman's  Building." 

"  Oh  Gene,  that  is  horrible  ;  read  us  something  else,"  said 
Marjorie. 

"  Well,  I  merely  read  it  to  let  you  see  what  queer  people 
there  are  in  the  world." 

"  The  Duke  arose  and  came  over  and  stood  by  Gene, 
reading  over  her  shoulder. 

"  There  is  something  interesting  !     Read  that." 

"  Yes,  that  may  amuse  you,  as  it  is  an  anecdote  that  a 
Presbyterian  minister  told  me  one  day,  when  he  came  in 
the  office  on  business. 

"A  young  man  before  his  marriage  said  to  his  fiancee  : 
'  I  don't  think  we  ought  to  have  any  secrets  between  us, 
and  so  I  will  tell  you  that  I  am  a  somnambulist.'  'Oh, 
that  is  of  no  consequence,"  said  she.  "  I  am  a  Presbyte- 
rian, and  am  willing  to  go  half-way  with  you.'  '' 

"  Of  course  Gene  would  remember  that  little  Presbyte- 
rian joke,"  said  the  Duke,  laughing. 

"Well  !     I  have  only  one  more  entry  now  to  read  : 

Nov.  30th. — "  A  letter  received  by  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers  to-day,  stated  that  the  writer  would  be  pleased 
to  place  an  elevator  of  aluminum  in  the  Woman's  Build- 
ing, for  use  during  the  Exposition,  adding  : 

"  '  Though  it  seems  presumptuous  for  a  humble  man  like 


132  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

me  to  attempt  the  elevation  of  woman,  the  crown  of  crea- 
tion.'   Now,  is  not  that  gallant  for  a  business  letter  ?  " 

"  Is  that  all  you  have  written  ? "  said  the  Duke. 

Just  then  the  front  door  was  opened  by  Katie,  and  Mr. 
Middleton  came  in  with  a  radiant  face  and  a  few  American 
Beauties  for  Gene. 

Marjorie  and  the  Duke  soon  withdrew  from  the  parlor, 
and  as  they  sat  by  the  dining-room  lamp,  the  Duke  said  : 

"  Did  you  notice,  Marjorie,  how  Virginia  blushed  when 
Mr.  Middleton  was  announced  ?  I'm  very  much  afraid 
that  there  is  a  romance  brewing  under  our  very  eyes." 

"Well  !  Jack  Middleton  is  a  true,  loyal  fellow,  and  I 
have  always  liked  him,"  Marjorie  answered  ;  "but  I  am  not 
afraid  that  we  will  lose  Gene,  for  having  had  so  much 
attention  she  is  really  over  fastidious,  and  will  not  be  very 
easily  won." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

JACKSON  PARK,  BY  THE  DUKE. 

ONE  never  realizes  as  one  lives  the  days  away  how 
much  of  poetry  and  romance,  beauty  and  interest, 
there  are  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

A  month's  work  in  the  modeling-shops  in  Jackson  Park 
afforded  many  pleasant  memories  and  much  knowledge  of 
men.  A  woman's  advent  among  them  was  a  matter  of  less 
interest,  perhaps  owing  to  the  fact  that  almost  all  the  work- 
ers were  foreigners,  and  abroad  it  is  not  so  unusual  for 
women  to  do  industrial  work.  A  quiet  corner  had  been 
apportioned  to  the  Danish  sculptor  and  his  wife,  and  there 
my  model  was  set  up.  The  modeling-shop  was  a  mere 
temporary  building,  long  and  low,  and  the  midsummer  sun 
kept  the  thermometer  way  up  in  the  nineties. 

The  decorative  work  for  several  of  the  buildings  of  the 
Columbian  Exposition  was  being  done  here,  and  a  hundred 
men  were  seeking  expression  for  genius,  or  daily  pay  for 
daily  food.  The  early  morning  always  found  in  his  place 
the  tall,  dark,  curly-haired  German,  picturesque  in  his 
white  blouse  with  red  collar,  broad  leather  belt  with  big 
buckle  and  his  short  brier-wood  pipe  between  his  teeth. 
On  the  scaffolding  in  front  of  his  "  Goddess  of  Electricity," 
he  moved  constantly,  his  white  cap  a  star  against  the  gray 


134 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


wall.  Two  spandrels  covered  the  arch  dividing  the  model- 
ing from  the  casting  department,  and  on  these  worked  the 
only  American  who  had  found  occupation  in  the  shops. 
Tall,  slender,  nervous,  truly  American  in  all  his  movements, 
he  would  model  a  bit,  descend  from   his  ladder,  step  back 

to  look  at  his  work 
and  then  rush  mad- 
ly to  make  some 
change. 

Perhaps  no  more 
earnest  worker  con- 
nected with  all  the 
big  fair  could  be 
found  than  the  little 
lad  whose  willing 
feet  and  active 
hands  did  all  my 
bidding.  In  the  field 
of  sculpture  he 
hoped  to  earn  a  liv- 
ing for  a  large  fam- 
ily of  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  after  a 
day's  mechanical 
work  in  waiting  on 
me,  he  studied  at  night  in  the  Art  School.  Often  he 
would  bring  me  a  model  to  correct  which  he  had  made  ; 
and  then  how  his  eyes  would  brighten  and  his  cheeks  glow  at 
a  word  of  praise  ! — and  I  doubt  if  Giotto  felt  more  inspired 
than  he,  surrounded  by  the  spirit  of  art  and  fired  by  ambi- 
tion. His  great,  sad  eyes,  pallid  face  and  ragged  clothes, 
recalled  Murillo's  fancies  in  old  Spain. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


135 


In  this  rude  shop  a  vivid  imagination  found  ample  play, 
and  the  big,  strong  fellows  who  carried  buckets  of  plaster 
for  casting,  or  the  dreamy  artists  whose  thoughts  were  far 
away,  each  had  some  theme  for  story.  As  I  worked  I  won- 
dered what  the  motive  of  each  life  might  be. 

One  afternoon  the  whistle 
had  just  sounded  to  renew 
work,  when  I  saw  coming 
towards  me  a  man  below  the 
medium  height,  with  long  red- 
brown  hair,  deep  sunken  blue- 
black  eyes  and  a  long,  drooping 
mustache.  In  his  hand  he  held 
a  large  sombrero  and  from  his 
shoulders  a  military  cape  de- 
pended. A  flannel  shirt,  a  gaudy 
tie  and  a  brilliant  scarf  around 
his  waist  completed  a  most  un- 
usual costume.  A  model,  evi- 
dently, and  a  character  !  He 
threw  his  hair  back  with  his 
hand,  looked  up  at  me  where  I 
stood  at  work,  and  handed  me  a 
card     on    which    was     written 

"  Leon  Lubrowoski,"  musician — model.  "  You  want  a  model 
I  understand?"  "Yes,"  I  replied.  He  looked  like  Charles  I 
in  a  cowboy's  dress,  and  I  wondered  for  what  I  could  use 
him.  I  resolved  mentally  to  make  a  character  study  of 
him.  "For  what  have  you  posed  ?"  "A  villain,"  and  as  he 
stuck  his  hat  on  the  back  of  his  head  and  folded  his  arms 
he  looked  it.  "A  Spanish  cavalier,  a  monk,  Christ, 
Mephistopheles — anything,  everything." 


136  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

"  Do  you  make  a  living  by  playing,  also,  and  on  what  ? " 
"  The  violin,  but  I  never  take  money  for  it.  It  is  my  love 
and  my  pleasure."  His  answer  excited  my  curiosity  and  I 
questioned  him  further.  "What  country  do  you  come 
from?"  "Poland.  I  have  been  here  six  years.  I  am  a 
vegetarian.  For  eight  years  I  have  eaten  nothing  cooked.  I 
live  on  fruit  and  berries  ;  meat  excites  one,  and  I  never  get 
excited  ;  you  could  not  make  me  angry — I  think  coolly, 
I  drink  nothing  but  water,  nor  do  I  smoke.  When  one 
lives  on  fruit  one  loses  all  desire  for  such  things — also  the 
mind  is  clearer  ;  not  hampered  by  food  and  body."  "  Can 
you  do  much  work  without  meat  ? "  I  asked.  "  Yes,  pro- 
viding it  is  not  too  great  physicial  exertion.  The  world 
spends  its  time  in  making  a  living  and  dies  before  it  does 
the  living.  Now  life  is  worth  enough  to  take  time  to  enjoy 
and  to  cultivate  what  God  has  given  you  ;  not  laboring  all 
day  long,  eating  and  sleeping — that  is  animal  existence  ; 
not  life."  "What  pleasures  do  you  indulge  in?"  I  asked. 
"  Reading  and  music  I  like  best ;  metaphysics,  political 
economy  and  theosophy.  Tinsley,  Huxley,  Adams  and 
Darwin,  Lubbock's  'Pleasures  of  Life,'  all  have  references 
in  them  to  other  books  ;  and  those  I  buy.  I  have  a  library 
of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  volumes  ;  I  pose  and  make 
enough  to  eat  and  wear  ;  fifteen  cents  gets  a  supply  of 
apples  sufficient  for  a  day  ;  eating  fruit  does  away  with  the 
necessity  of  preparing  meals  and  washing  cooking  utensils, 
and  gives  more  time  to  read  and  conduces  to  freedom. 
No,  I  never  drink  milk  ;  men  have  made  slaves  of  cows  and 
I  believe  in  freedom  for  all  ;  men  are  slaves  themselves  to 
raising  cattle.  I  don't  believe  in  marriage  as  it  at  present 
exists.  A  woman  married  is  a  slave  to  her  husband.  How 
can  she  wash  and   cook  and  care  for  the  children  and  be 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  137 


free  to  think  ?  She  wants  pleasures  as  well  as  a  man, 
and  if  she  has  to  do  drudgery,  she  can't  think  and  enjoy 
life.  All  should  be  free  to  enjoy  themselves  ;  to  be  happy 
and  to  make  others  so." 

That  this  curious  subject,  a  philosopher  in  rags,  posed 
for  me,  I  need  hardly  say  ;  and  the  sketch,  like  the  model, 
could  not  be  named,  for  in  it  were  ideas  and  their  contra- 
dictions. 

The  bell  rang — the  day  was  done.  We  put  down  our 
tools,  doffed  caps  and  aprons,  and  filed  out  of  the  shop. 
Across  the  park,  over  the  sand  and  timber  we  went,  form- 
ing part  of  the  black  line  of  wage-earners,  crawling  like 
ants,  toward  the  gate.  Each  going  home  to  some  one  he 
loved — each  with  his  life  with  its  joy  and  pain — real  to  him 
and  not  existing  for  the  man  beside  him  ;  striving,  toiling, 
patiently  enduring,  making  a  living,  and  as  my  philospher 
model  said  :  "Dying  before  he  did  the  living." 


-■*  *• 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CHRISTMAS. 

My  Dear  Will: — How  kind  you  were  to  remember  the 
flat  with  that  splendid  bag  of  game!  We  all  enjoyed  it  im- 
mensely, and  I  wish  you  could  have  been  with  us  at  our 
Christmas  dinner,  although  we  did  come  near  having  an 
accident  afterwards.  We  had  been  having  a  very  exciting 
day,  the  bell  ringing  every  other  moment,  and  all  sorts  of 
mysterious  packages  coming  in,  for  everyone  was  so  good 
to  us.  We  seemed  to  be  having  a  regular  donation  party, 
and  it  all  commenced  last  October  when  Mrs.  Peabody,  of 
Evanston,  who  has  always  been  the  loyal  friend  of  the  flat, 
sent  us  the  great  basket  of  goodies  from  what  she  called 
her  farm.  It  was  her  crab-apple  jelly  with  the  Oriental 
flavor  of  the  rose-leaf  in  it  that  you  liked  so  much  when 
you  took  dinner  with  us  on  your  way  through  the  city. 

Then  came  a  beautiful  box  from  Louisville,  filled  with 
brandied  peaches  that  the  Duke's  mother  sent  us  ;  and  last, 
but  not  least,  the  contribution  from  that  sweet  Mrs. 
Gould,  of  Moline,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Mana- 
gers, who  sent  us  such  a  big  box  on  Thanksgiving,  filled  with 
preserves  and  jellies  and  pickles,  and  on  top  of  them  all, 
inside  of  the  cover,  a  mass  of  orange  and  white  feathery 


140  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

chrysanthemums  from  her  own  garden.  Who  but  a  woman 
would  have  thought  of  that  last  artistic  touch  ?  I  don't 
need  to  tell  you  what  a  help  this  has  been  in  our  house- 
keeping, for  with  all  that  we  can  do,  it  is  more  expensive 
than  boarding,  and  none  of  us  can  afford  to  spend  all  the 
money  we  make  on  the  flat.  Gene,  you  know,  is  taking 
vocal  lessons,  and  the  Duke  is  saving  up  money  for  her 
art  studies  abroad,  and  as  for  me,  you  know  how  heavy 
my  expenses  have  always  been,  and  more  than  ever  this 
winter,  since  I  have  taken  up  so  many  studies  outside  of 
my  work.  But  I  am  straying  rather  far  from  the  subject 
of  Christmas. 

It  was  Gene's  birthday,  so  we  made  a  double  holiday  of  it, 
and  gave  a  pretty  dinner  to  which  we  invited  her  very  best 
friends.  The  Duke  and  I  had  managed 
the  whole  thing  as  a  surprise,  so  that 
Gene  did  not  know  we  had  remem- 
bered that  it  was  her  birthday  until 
Katie  brought  in  the  great  cake,  with 
its  twenty-two  candles  all  lighted.  We 
had  spent  nearly  all  the  morning  deco- 
rating the  dining-room  while  Gene  was 
at  church.  (She  did  not  go  alone.)  And 
the  result  surpassed  our  wildest  expectations,  for  the  Duke 
has  the  most  exquisite  taste.  First,  we  had  the  janitor  bring 
up  from  our  store-room  in  the  cellar,  the  big  round  top 
which  we  always  use  on  our  little  table  on  state  occasions. 
Then,  while  Katie  laid  the  cloth,  the  Duke  disappeared  in  the 
back  hall,  returning  in  triumph  with  the  dearest  little  Christ- 
mas tree  in  the  world.  The  girls  exclaimed  with  delight  (for 
Carrie  and  Vinnie  and  Maude  were  with  us),  and  we  all  set 
to  work  with  a  will.     We  placed  it  in  the  center  of  the  table 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  141 

and  trimmed  it  with  golden  threads  of  tinsel,  hanging  upon  ■ 
it  all  the  smaller  toys  that  we  had  bought  for  little  Mary's 
brother  and  sister,  and  for  the  janitor's  children,  for  we 
had  asked  them  all  in  for  dinner  at  seven  (our  own  was  at 
five),  and  for  a  frolic  afterward.  On  the  table  under  the 
spreading  branches,  we  grouped  the  larger  toys,  and  at  a 
happy  suggestion  from  Carrie,  we  sifted  bits  of  fleecy 
white  cotton  all  over  our  little  tree  until  it  looked  like  one 
of  Lowell's  pines  "  that  wore  ermine  too  dear  for  an  earl." 
After  this,  we  festooned  strings  of  Japanese  lanterns  of 
quaintest  shapes  from  the  chandelier  in  the  center  to   the 


four  corners  of  the  room,  and  fastened  several  spike-edged 
palm  leaves  in  a  graceful  row  above  the  sideboard.  The 
effect  of  all  this  decoration  was  certainly  gay  and  pretty 
enough  to  please  the  most  fastidious,  but  the  Duke  stood 
critically  on  one  side  of  the  table  with  her  brows  knitted,  and 
with  a  preoccupied  air  that  we  have  all  learned  to  know 
and  respect,  as  the  herald  of  some  bright  suggestion.  Sud- 
denly she  exclaimed:  "  I  have  it,"  rushed  into  the  kitchen, 
returning  with  Katie  and  an  enormous  step  ladder,  which 
we  had  bought  in  the  early  days  of  our  housekeeping  be- 


142  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

fore  we  had  accustomed  ourselves  to  our  diminutive  home. 
She  had  noticed  the  reflections  of  the  table  with  its  tree  in 
the  mirrors  belonging  to  the  mantel  and  sideboard  at  the 
opposite  sides  of  the  room,  and  it  had  occurred  to  her  to 
introduce  a  third  glass  which  would  reflect  an  added  bril- 
liancy when  the  candles  were  lighted.  It  was  the  work  of 
a  moment  to  get  a  great  round,  old-fashioned  mirror  from 
her  own  room  and  hang  it  opposite  the  table,  but  unfortu- 
nately the  framework  was  of  dark  wood,  while  our  little 
dining-room  is  all  in  oak.  Someone  suggested  holly,  and 
so  we  wreathed  the  entire  mirror  with  the  glossy  leaves 
and  the  red  berries,  tho'  it  was  hard  work  to  drive  the  pins 
into  the  unyielding  wood,  especially  as  we  had  to  use  hair 
brushes  for  hammers,  as  this  article  was  not  included  in 
the  inventory  of  our  household  belongings.  After  this  we 
brought  in  from  the  parlor  the  Jong  jardiniere,  with  its  row 
of  fresh  vines  and  bright-colored  geraniums,  and  placed  it 
under  the  mirror,  but  even  then  our  critical  artist  was  not 
satisfied,  for  on  each  side  of  the  glass  was  a  space  of  two 
or  three  feet  that  showed  the  light  wall-paper 

Again  the  Duke  knitted  her  brows,  and  again  we  kept 
silence,  and  in  a  few  minutes  our  old  black  Japanese 
screen,  with  its  golden  birds,  was  impressed  into  service; 
but  there  was  yet  the  other  side,  and  well  we  knew  that 
there  was  not  an  extra  curtain  in  the  flat,  as  weeks  before 
it  had  depleted  the  family  pocket-book  to  hang  portieres 
in  each  door.  The  case  seemed  hopeless,  but  our  artist 
had  another  inspiration,  and  in  a  moment  had  hung 
up  Gene's  crimson  opera  cloak  by  one  corner  so  that  the 
graceful  fur-edged  folds  fell  into  place,  and  lo,  the  effect 
was  magical.  A  gleaming  circle  wreathed  in  holly  and 
drooping  with  vines  and  flowers  stood  out  from  a  dark,  in- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Fiat. 


143 


discriminate  background  and  reflected  again  and  again  the 
table  with  its  dainty  appointments  and  snow-laden  tree. 

The  only  lights  we  used   that   night  were  the   lanterns, 
and   the   candles   on    tree  .  and  table,  and  as  our 

friend  from  Maine  declared      JL       on  seeing  it,  the  din- 


ing-room had  undergone  as  much  of  a  transformation  as 
Aladdin's  palace. 

Punctually  at  five  our  guests  arrived,  and  one  and  all 
exclaimed  at  our  new  banqueting  hall.  The  dinner  pro- 
gressed with  mirth  and  jollity,  for  we  had  the  old-fashioned 
bonbons  on   the  table,  and  pulled  the  snappers  just  like 


144  Three   Girls  in  a  Flat. 

children.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  pretty  the  girls  all  looked 
in  the  candle-light  with  their  quaint  paper  caps,  or  how 
becoming  the  Priscilla  hood  of  white  tissue  was  to  dear 
Mrs.  Starkweather,  who  was  acting  as  our  chaperone. 

Our  guests  were  all  in  the  happiest  mood,  especially  our 
friend  from  Maine,  who  aroused  shouts  of  laughter  by 
telling,  in  his  inimitable  manner,  three  of  his  best-known 
stories  about  "  old  Squire  Rawson,"  when,  like  an  appari- 
tion, Mrs.  Brown  appeared.  She  did  not  have  the  sombre 
effect  of  Banquo's  ghost,  however,  for  she  carried  in  both 
hands  a  tarnished  silver  soup  tureen  filled  with  maple  syrup, 
which  she  had  brought  for  a  Christmas  present  to  the  flat. 
^0^s%i  I11   ner  arms  were  a  new  pair  of  red- 

topped,  copper-toed  boots  belonging  to 
Lycurgus,  which  she  had  carried   in  to 
P"     »f  v  show  us,   while  over  one   shoulder    de- 

pwsy-  pended  a  pair   of    diminutive   trousers 

which,  she  assured  us,  entirely  without 
embarrassment,  were   Philander's   first, 
stella.  which  she  had  just  made  (and  here  she 

heaved  a  gentle  sigh)  out  of  the  moth-eaten  remnant  of 
her  first  husband's  wedding  suit. 

We  were  drinking  our  coffee  in  the  parlor  after  dinner, 
when  merry  voices  and  heavy  little  footsteps  sounded  in 
the  hall  ;  a  ring  came  at  the  door,  and  Katie  ushered  in  our 
little  guests,  who  arrived  in  a  body. 

The  table  had  been  reset  and  we  had  relighted  the  tree 
when  they  sat  down  to  dinner,  and  such  shy,  happy,  well- 
behaved  children  I  never  before  saw.  Stella,  our  small 
neighbor  across  the  hall,  was  giving  a  party,  too,  and 
many  of  her  little  friends  flocked  over  to  see  our  children. 
Two  of  the  little  girls,  Daisy  and  Jean,  wore  Japanese  cos- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


x45 


tumes,  which  delighted  all  the  children  except  poor  little 
red-haired  Anthony,  who  was  so  frightened  that  he  buried 
his  face  in  his  napkin  and  howled  until  he  felt  the  reassur- 
ing touch  of  little  Mary's  fingers. 

After   dinner  there   was  a  great  frolic,  and  Olga,  who 
doesn't  speak  a  word  of  English,   became  so  excited  that 


DAISY   AND   JEAN. 

she  got  up  and  spoke  a  piece,  which  her  older  sister  gravely 
assured  us  was  Humpty-Dumpty  in  Swedish.  She  rocked 
back  and  forth  on  her  wooden  shoes  as  she  recited,  and  the 
words  sounded  very  odd.     They  were: 

"  Lilla  bulla  soppa  kulla, 
Trilla  neffer  kulla, 
Ingen  nion  e  detta  Ion, 
Lilla  bulla  bupta  kon." 


146  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

After  this  our  harper  came  into  the  hall  below  as  he  al- 
ways does  on  holidays,  and  we  invited  him  in,  that  the  little 
folks  might  dance.     We  had  planned  to  leave  them  in  full 
possession   of  the  flat  under  Katie's  care,  for  we  were  all 
going  down  to  the  Christmas  performance  of  the  Messiah 
by  the  Apollo  Club,  to  which  Gene  and  I  belong,  as  you 
know.     We  had  gone  to  our  rooms  to  get  our  wraps,  and 
were  just  about  ready  to  start,  when  we  noticed  the  smell 
of  smoke,  and  hearing  someone  call  "  Fire  !  "  rushed  to  the 
dining-room.      What    a   sight   met   our 
eyes  !     Our  beautiful  table  was  a  smok- 
ing ruin,   while  standing  over  it  with  a 
great  empty  dish-pan  in  his  hand  stood 
Pat,  whom   Katie  calls  her   "  best  kim- 
pany."     Six  of  the  pretty    after-dinner 
.•       coffee-cups  that  I  had  picked  up  abroad 
were    broken,    several     napkins      were 
little  helen.  scorched,  but  worse  than  all,   a   great, 

brown  hole  was  burned  through  our  best  tablecloth, 
through  our  white  felt  pad,  and  marked  the  pine  of  our 
table  top.  Katie,  who  had  spread  the  cloth,  had  tried  to 
make  the  table  especially  beautiful,  so,  in  addition  to  the 
pad,  and  underneath  the  outside  layer  of  damask,  she  had 
put  four  of  our  best  tablecloths. 

I  saw  that  Gene  could  scarcely  repress  the  tears,  for  she 
does  love  a  prettily  appointed  table,  and  we  knew  what 
ruin  this  meant  to  our  slender  stock  of  linen  ;  but  Katie 
was  such  a  picture  of  misery  that  we  were  all  obliged  to 
burst  out  laughing.  We  had  had  an  unusually  fine  dessert 
that  night — a  mould  of  ice  cream  made  in  the  form  of  a 
watermelon,  with  the  German  strawberries  in  the  centre, 
then  the  layer  of  ice  and  finally  the  outside  of  green  pis- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  147 

tache.  It  had  been  the  pride  of  Katie's  heart  and  it  was 
the  cause  of  all  our  misery,  for  she  and  Pat  were  so  anxious 
to  finish  it  before  it  melted  that  they  had  left  the  table  to 
its  fate,  and  one  of  the  lighted  candles  had  probably  fallen 
from  the  tree. 

In  spite  of  our  disaster,  however,  we  reached  the  Audi- 
torium in  time,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  pride  that  I 
ushered  Gene  into  her  place  in  the  chorus,  for  she  was  my 
new  member,  and  this  was  her  first  concert,  and  I  knew 
that  no  one  could  look  without  pleasure  on  that  sweet,  ani- 
mated face,  above  the  gown  of  pale  blue  crepe.  In  her 
hand  she  carried  some  gorgeous  roses  that  had  been  pre- 
sented by  a  certain  young  man,  while  in  her  hair  glittered 
an  enameled  blue  butterfly,  with  opalescent  wings,  that 
was  the  common  property  of  the  flat. 

We  arrived  just  in  time  and  had  gained  our  places  com- 
fortably when  the  curtain  rose  and  the  Auditorium  lay  be- 
fore us.  I  could  not  begin  to  tell  you  how  it  looks  from 
the  stage.  The  stereotyped  description  will  not  fit  at  all, 
for  though  it  is  the  same  magnificent  hall,  with  its  arches 
of  starry  light,  yet  when  you  take  this  point  of  view  and 
the  sea  of  upturned  faces  stretches  away  from  you,  the 
effect  is  to  add  greatly  to  its  immensity.  The  tiers  of 
boxes,  on  either  side,  were  filled  with  fair  women  in  even- 
ing dress,  and  the  softness  of  coloring  in  the  whole  scene 
could  only  be  likened  to  some  Oriental  picture. 

But  we  did  not  have  long  to  look,  for  in  a  moment  the 
spendid  Thomas  Orchestra,  which  was  to  accompany  us, 
touched  the  opening  strains  of  Handel's  magnificent  Ora- 
torio. 

When  I  was  in  London  last  summer  I  had  the  good 
fortune  to  hear  the  Royal  Choral  Society,  with  its  member- 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


ship  of  a  thousand  voices,  singing  the  Golden  Legend,  with 
Nordica,  and  Albani  and  Lloyd  and  Henschel  for  soloists, 
with  ten  thousand  people  listening  in  Prince  Albert  Hall, 
and  with  the  German  Emperor  and  Empress  and  all  the 
royalty  of  England  in  the  boxes  ;  but  I  can  honestly  say 
that  there  was  no  better  chorus  singing,  nor  was  there  one- 
tenth  the  enthusiasm  that  was  exhibited  at  this  masterful 
rendering,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Tomlins,  who  is  re- 
spected and  admired  by  all  lovers  of  music,  and  simply 
worshiped  by  his  own  club. 

We  reached  home  at  twelve  o'clock,  tired  but  happy, 
with  our  eventful  day,  and  as  I  passed  the  library  on  my 
way  to  my  room,  I  noticed  a  slender  figure,  with  brown  hair 
under  a  monk's  hood  of  crimson,  standing  with  a  taller 
shadow  ominously  near  the  mistletoe  bough  ;  but  of  course 
there  was  nothing  in  this,  for  was  it  not  our  independent 
Gene  ? 

You  must  forgive  me,  dear  Will,  for  writing  this  very 
long,  and  rather  commonplace  letter  ;  but  I  feel  a  little 
lonely  sometimes,  especially  on  holidays.  Oh,  why  did  you 
go  to  Australia  ?  Marjorie. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    LITTLE    BLUE    BUTTERFLY. 

WHEN  Gene  refused  to  open  the  large  box  she 
received  at  the  breakfast  table  one  sunny  April 
morning,  the  Duke  gave  me  a  very  significant  glance,  for 
Gene  is  never  selfish,  and  neither  is  she  afraid  of  a  joke. 
However,  she  calmly  ignored  us  on  this  occasion,  and  car- 
ried the  package  off  to  her  room,  while  we  lingered  over 
our  coffee  to  discuss  the  situation.  "  I'm  afraid  it  may 
have  something  to  do  with  that  young  man  who  comes 
every  night,"  declared  the  Duke.  "Oh,  nonsense,"  I  re- 
plied, "  Gene  isn't  going  to  do  anything  precipitate,"  but 
nevertheless  I  had  my  misgivings,  for  I  had  noticed  that 
our  ten  o'clock  rule  was  being  broken  with  ominous  regu- 
larity, and  only  the  night  before  I  had  preferred  taking  my 
book  over  to  the  studio  with  the  Duke,  to  interrupting  a 
very  interesting  tete-a-tete  in  the  library. 

The  evening  of  our  conversation  in  the  dining-room  one 
of  our  neighbors  was  to  give  a  large  party.  We  had  all 
been  invited,  but  the  Duke  had  to  work  on  one  of  her 


150  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

models,  and  I  was  fathoms  deep  in  the  "  Chevalier  of 
Pensieri  Vani,"  so  we  sent  our  regrets.  Gene  had  de- 
cided to  go,  however,  and  we  went  to  her  room  after  din- 
ner to  assist  her  to  dress.  When  she  had  donned  her  dainty- 
gown  of  white  chiffon,  and  gathered  her  pretty  bronze 
hair  high  on  her  head,  she  made  a  charming  picture.  "  How 
do  I  look  ?  "  and  she  turned  to  the  Duke  a  little  defiantly. 
There  was  a  sparkle  and  brilliancy  about  her  that  was 
quite  enchanting,  and  a  subdued  brightness  in  her  glance 
that  was  far  from  commonplace.  I  looked  at  her  in  sur- 
prise, but  the  Duke  was  not  to  be  conquered  by  this  radi- 
ant young  beauty.  She  drew  back  critically.  "  Yes,  you 
will  do  very  well,  but  I  wish  you  had  some  flowers — you 
need  a  bit  of  color;"  and  she  stepped  to  the  bureau  to  ex- 
amine the  ornaments  in  Gene's  cushion.  "  Here,  this 
makes  it  perfect;"  and  drawing  the  little  blue  butterfly 
from  its  resting-place  she  fastened  it  among  the  burnished 
coils.  It  certainly  was  lovely.  How  well  the  opalescent 
tints  brought  out  the  lights  in  her  eyes  ! 

Just  then  a  familiar  ring  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  I 
rushed  out  to  admit  Mr.  Middleton.  I  had  never  seen  him 
look  so  distinguished,  and  he,  too,  seemed  rather  exalted. 
While  we  were  talking  in  the  parlor  he  asked  me  casually 
if  Gene  had  received  a  box  that  morning,  and  smiled  with 
satisfaction  at  my  affirmative  reply.  Just  then  she  entered; 
but  what  was  there  about  that  lovely  vision  to  make  his 
face  blanch  and  the  light  die  out  of  his  eyes  ?  And  why, 
when  she  offered  her  hand  so  sweetly  in  greeting  did  he 
ignore  it  and  pretend  to  be  picking  up  a  glove  ? 

Gene,  poor  child,  drew  back  proudly,  but  I  caught  the 
gleam  of  a  tear  that  sparkled  more  brightly  than  the  little 
jeweled  ornament  that  glinted  above  it. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  151 

After  they  had  gone  the  Duke  and  I  held  an  indignation 
meeting  that  culminated  in  nothing  more  serious  than  a 
dainty  luncheon  and  a  cup  of  hot  chocolate,  which  we  spread 
on  the  low  table  by  the  hearth.  We  waited  until  the  rumble 
of  the  carriage  announced  that  the  wanderers  had  re- 
turned, and  then  giving  a  last  touch  to  the  table,  and  a 
final  thrust  at  the  cannel  fire,  which  made  the  room  blaze 
with  ruddy  light  and  sent  the  sparks  flying  up  the  wide 
chimney,  we  escaped  to  our  rooms.  But  our  tempting 
preparations  were  in  vain,  for  we  heard  a  formal  good- 
night at  the  door,  and  a  moment  later  the  key  turned  in 
Gene's  room,  and  no  notice  had  been  taken  of  our  little 
feast.  We  slipped  into  the  parlor,  extinguished  the  hissing 
kettle,  and  removed  everything  quietly  that  she  might  not 
be  wounded  by  seeing  our  preparations  in  the  morning, 
and  then  we  hurried  off  to  bed. 

But  when  the  morning  came  Gene  was  in  no  condition 
to  notice  our  futile  efforts,  for  the  Duke  found  her  ill  with 
a  violent  headache,  and  made  her  stay  in  bed  in  spite  of 
her  protests. 

When  I  returned  at  night  she  seemed  much  better  and 
joined  us  at  dinner,  but  she  appeared  listless  and  heavy- 
eyed,  and  the  succeeding  days  brought  no  change. 

One  day  we  heard  casually  that  Mr.  Middleton  was  about 
to  sail  for  Europe,  and  so  the  Duke  resolved  upon  a  bold 
stroke. 

We  were  at  dinner — Genevas  usual,  making  a  pretense 
of  eating — when  the  Duke  remarked  to  me  :  "  Have  you 
heard,  Marjorie,  that  Jack  Middleton  is  going  to  Europe  ?" 
Of  course  I  had  heard,  but  Gene  hadn't,  and  as  the  Duke 
afterward  confessed,  she  could  have  bitten   her  tongue  out 


152  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 

for  having  uttered  the  words,  when  she  saw  the  stricken 
look  in  the  poor  child's  eyes.  She  tried  to  smile  and  say 
something,  but  the  words  would  not  come.  However,  she 
stayed  bravely  until  we  finished  our  coffee,  but  it  was  a  re- 
lief to  us  all  when  we  heard  her  lock  the  door  of  her  room. 
We  went  across  to  the  studio  where  she  would  not  hear  us 
talk,  but  we  could  not  solve  the  problem,  and  as  we 
did  not  want  to  leave  her  long  we  stayed  but  a  few 
minutes. 

When  we  returned  to  the  flat  Katie  let  us  in,  whispering 
in  awe-struck  tones:  "Mrs.  Brown's  gone  into  Miss  Fair- 
fax's room,  mum."  "  How  did  she  get  in  ?  "  demanded  the 
Duke  angrily,  but  stopped  when  she  heard  the  sobs  behind 
Gene's  locked  door.  "  Why,  she  said  she  must  see  Miss 
Fairfax;  she  knew  she  hadn't  been  well,  and  she  wanted  to 
cheer  her  up,  and  so  I  let  her  knock.  Miss  Gene  wouldn't 
answer,  and  so  Mrs.  Brown  went  into  your  room,  Miss  Mar- 
jorie,  and  got  in  through  the  closet  door." 

The  Duke's  eyes  flashed  with  indignation,  but  I  thought 
it  might  do  Gene  good  to  have  Mrs.  Brown  rush  in,  though 
we  had  feared  to  attempt  it. 

We  sat  down  quietly  in  the  dining-room,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  Mrs.  Brown  came  out  wiping  her  eyes,  and  with  a 
sweetness  and  tenderness  in  her  manner  that  we  would  not 
have  believed  possible.  "  Yes,  girls,  she's  told  me  all  about 
it,"  she  said,  "  and  unless  there's  some  mistake  that  Mr. 
Middleton  ought  to  be  ashamed,  for  they've  never  had  a 
single  quarrel,  and  she  don't  know  what's  made  him  an- 
gry." Just  here  she  was  interrupted  by  a  procession  of 
little  boys  who  came  to  our  back  door  dragging  in  Lycur- 
p-us,  who  was  protesting  with  many  howls. 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat.  153 

"  Make  him  tell  what's  in  that  box,  ma,"  cried 
Thomas  Jefferson.  "  I  saw  him  hiding  it  under  Phil's 
bed." 

"What  is  in  that  box,  my  son  ?  "  demanded  Mrs.  Brown 
sternly,  and  the  offender,  amid  bitter  tears,  removed  the 
string,  lifted  the  cover  and  revealed — a  mass  of  faded  roses. 
"  It  came  to  Miss  Fairfax  on  April  Fool's  morning,"  he 
sobbed,  "  and  I  just  changed  it  and  sent  a  box  of 
newspaper  instead.  I  meant  to  send  it  back,  but  I 
forgot  all  about  it  until  to-day;"  and  the  miserable  in- 
fant wept  copious  floods  of  tears.  His  mother  leaned 
forward  and  with  one  large  hand  dealt  him  a  generous 
cuff  on  the  ear  that  sent  him  home  yelling,  while  with 
the  other  she  plucked  a  card  from  among  the  faded 
flowers,  and  handed  it  to  the  Duke.  It  read:  "If  I 
may  hope,  wear  one  of  these  roses  in  your  hair  to- 
night." 

Nothing  was  said  for  a  moment,  and  then  Mrs.  Brown 
rose  abruptly.  "I  am  going  down  stairs  to  telephone,"  and 
she  disappeared.  We  didn't  exchange  a  word  after  she 
left,  but  I  could  hear  a  French  heel  tapping  the  floor  im- 
patiently, and  I  knew  by  this  infallible  sign  that  our  Duke 
was  laboring  under  strong  excitement.  It  was  but  a  mo- 
ment until  Mrs.  Brown  returned,  like  young  Lochinvar's 
Ellen,  "with  a  smile  on  her  lip  but  a  tear  in  her  eye." 
"Yes,  girls,  I  got  the  telephone  number  I  wanted,  and  you 
had  better  go  and  take  a  walk  just  as  quick  as  you  can. 
I  am  going  home,"  and  she  suited  the  action  to  the 
word. 

The  Duke  rose  to  open  the  door,  and  as  the  good  woman 
passed  she  threw  her  arms  around  her  and  kissed  her 
good-night. 


154 


Three  Girls  in  a  Flat. 


HE  Duke  and  I  walked  silently  down  the 
Lake  Shore  Drive.  The  summer  sea 
smiled  before  us;  a  few  white- winged 
ships  gave  substance  to  the  dreamlike  ex- 
panse; the  Crib  seemed  floating  between 
two  oceans;  the  sky  spread  its  glory  from 
zenith  to  horizon,  and  the  shining  lake 
flushed  and  changed  each  moment  with 
the  rainbow  tints  of  the  sunset.  As  we  ad- 
vanced the  glowing  crimson  paled  to  ashes  of  roses,  and  the 
rich  purple  became  a  faint  violet — the  day  was  departing. 

We  walked  to  the  end  of  the  esplanade  and  turned  to 
retrace  our  steps.  The  shadowy  veil  of  night  had  hidden 
the  Crib,  the  ships  were  phantoms,  and  lo!  there  hung  in 
the  west  a  slender  sickle  of  silvery  light — the  sweet  young 
moon  with  her  attendant,  the  evening  star. 

As  we  passed  Elm  street  we  noticed  two  figures  stand- 
ing by  the  sea-wall,  the  silhouettes  sharply  defined  against 
the  pale  background.  And  what  was  it  in  the  pose  of  that 
proud,  upturned  head  that  made  the  Duke  start  in  suiprise  ? 

%:  s£  %z  ^  ^  ^ 

When  we  reached  home  we  found  the  flat  deserted.  The 
hammock  in  the  library  swung  gently  in  the  breeze;  the 
flowers  in  the  jardiniere  yielded  their  spiciest  fragrance  to 
the  evening  dews;  the  lamp  shed  its  rosy  light  softly  on 
the  pretty  tea-table,  and  touched  with  brightness  the 
branches  of  apple  blossoms  that  filled  the  fireless  grate, 
but  all  was  mute;  there  was  no  sign. 

The  Duke  sighed,  and  stooping,  picked  from  among  the 
snowy  petals  that  had  fallen  to  the  hearth,  the  crushed 
semblance  of  a  little  blue  butterfly. 


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